First off all i would like to tell you about the importance of guitar scales... The guitar scales are necessary to understand chords, to play guitar solos and to compose songs.. so here are few basic and most important guitar scales...
The Major scale:
The major scale should be one of the first scales that you learn. Besides being a good warm up and technique builder, the major scale will be the starting point for all theory. This is a two octave scale. Oct is the Greek prefix for eight, so the 2nd red oval is eight notes above the 1st. Be sure to memorize where the roots are within the scale form. In order to train and your ear and your brain, try stopping on each root as you play. You should do this with all scales. Play the scale going up and down keeping as steady of a beat as possible.
(6th is the thickest string, n 1st in the thinest string.)
The Minor scale:
Minor scale requires a shift on the 3rd string only. Use your 1st, 2nd, and 4th fingers for the notes on the 3rd string. Stay in position for all of the other strings .
Pentatonic scale:
Minor pentatonic is the most common scale used for lead guitar in rock and blues.. Penta means five, so the pentatonic scale only has five different notes names before you are back to a root.
For the major pentatonic scale shift your hand and play the notes on the 1st and 2nd strings with your 1st and 3rd fingers. Usually it is a good idea to shift your hand like this if there is more than one string where you would not be using your first finger.
The Blue Scale:
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with an added note (in both octaves). The note that is added is sometimes referred to as the "blue note". This scale is used in blues, but it is also used in all styles of music. There is not a "heavy metal scale" or a "country scale", just a blues scale.
The first that you will need to learn is the notes on the fretboard. It is very important to any theory on guitar to know where the notes are on the neck. At first, memorize the notes on the first couple of strings. Then figure out what the notes on the rest of the strings will be. In a pretty short amount of time you should be able to do that. In time you'll develop more of a feel for where the notes fall, without having to think about it, but that's not necessary for chord theory. What you really need to be able to do is to be able to figure out what notes you're playing in a given chord.
Notice that there is a full step between all notes except for B and C, and E and F. For the sake of simplicity I have only shown sharps, but it is important to understand where.the flats are. A# (# = sharp) is equal to Bb (b = flat). D# is equal to Eb. B# is equal to C, and Cb is equal to B. Once again, for the purpose of chord theory, it is not necessary to be instantly familiar with every note on the fretboard. What is necessary is to be able to figure out the notes of any given chord that you are playing.
Keys (the Circle of fifths)
The next step in understanding any guitar theory is to understand the circle of fifths. Its importance is that it diagrams several important concepts. First, it is used in determining scales. Second, it is used to determine which chords are in any given key. Third, it is the basis for chord substitutions.
To begin with, I'll demonstrate how the circle of fifths is used in a blues progression in G (something that hopefully everyone is familiar with). Twelve bar blues in G begins with 4 bars of G, 2 bars of C, 2 bars of G, one bar of D7, one bar of C, one bar of G, and finally one bar of D7 (as shown below). This progression is also commonly known as
G G G G C C G G D7 C G D7
a I - IV - V progression. If you are not familiar with this progression, learn it. It is one of the most basic building blocks in rock music. Traces of it can be found in everything from Led Zeppelin to Doo-Wop to surf music to Eric Clapton.
The next diagram shows the chords that are in the key of G.
I II III IV V VI VII G A B C D E F#
As you can see, the G is the I, the C is the IV, and the D7 is the V in the I- IV - V progression. Any F chords played in the key of G need to be sharped, otherwise they are considered to be out of key.
In the same way, the circle of fifths shows which notes need to sharped or flatted in chord constuction. To form a major chord, the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale need to be played. In the case of Gmajor (or just G as it is commonly called), a G note would be 1, a B note would be 3, and a D note would be 5.
e-------o---- G (1) As you can see, the open G chord B------------ B (3) is made up entirely of G, B, and D notes G------------ G (1) (I, 3, and 5). Note that any G chord D------------ D (5) requires a 7 note to be played would A----o------- B (3) be an F#, not an F. E-------o---- G (1)
For the third part, the Circle of fifths gives an indication of when to play minors, etc. The following chart shows some guidelines. Later on
I = major II = minor7 III = minor7 IV = major V = dominant7 VI = minor (known also as the relative minor) VII = diminished
I will show some substitution rules for incorporating more unusual chords into a progression. It is important to remember that these rules are only general guidelines. If you look at the chords of some songs that you know, you will probably see that as a general trend, these rules are followed, but on many occasions they aren't.
One thing to keep in mind: a chord progression may be in the key of A (A is the I chord) without playing an A chord first. Look at the following example.
E E A D
This the chord progression in Lola, by the Kinks. In this case, it is in the key of A (A = I, D = IV, E = V). This shows that the first chord played in a progression does not determine the key. Another example is the IIm - V - I chord progression, which is one of the most common in western music. As you can see, it starts on the IIm chord.
Since I don't have very good graphics capabilities here, I will represent the circle of fifths in chart form, as would be read clockwise from 12 o'clock.
C - no sharps or flats. G - F# D - F#, C# A - F#, C#, G# E - F#, C#, G#, D# B - F#, C#, G#, D#, A# F# (Gb) - F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# (F) Db - Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb Ab - Bb, Eb, Ab, Db Eb - Bb, Eb, Ab Bb - Bb, Eb F - Bb
Notice the spacing between chords is the same for each key. Here is the example again in the key of G.
I II III IV V VI VII G A B C D E F#
Notice that there is a whole step between all chords except between III and IV, and between VII and I. This will be true for all keys.
That pattern is also the same as that for the major scale. The above diagram shows the notes contained in the G major scale.
The VI chord is called the relative minor, because it shares many notes with the tonic (I chord). If C were the tonic, Am would be the relative minor. If you play one after the other, you will notice they sound good together. If something is played in an Am key, you use the exact same chords as if it were being played in the key of C. In this way, you can determine all of the mionr keys as well from the circle of fifths.
Chord Construction
A chord is a group of three or more different notes played together. Every chord is based on a specific formula which relates back to the major scale after which it is named. As shown earlier, the formula for a major chord is 1 3 5 hence a G major (GM) chord consists of the first, third, and fifth notes of the G major scale, G B D (refer to the circle of fifths chart). **Note the ROOT note is the note after which the chord is named (the 1 note). The formula for a minor chord is 1 b3 5. In the case of a G minor (Gm) the notes would be G Bb D. **Note: a G flat major (Gb) is Gb Bb Db, therefore a Gbm (G flat minor) would be Gb Bbb Db, or Gb A Db. There are many cases where a flatted note has to be flatted again according to the chord formula.
Strumming is a technique in which you play the notes of a guitar chord (almost) simultaneously by stroking the strings with a pick or with your finger.
Using your finger sounds the warmest in my opinion. Use the nail of you index finger to strum the strings. Support your index finger with your thumb.
A guitar pick produces a clear sound with a lot of treble in it. The hardness of the pick is important: a very hard pick can make your sound too harsh while a very soft pick produces a 'flappy' sound. A medium thickness gives the best results for strumming.
A soft pick with be easier to strum with than a hard pick (generally). For absolute beginners, the really light white Dunlop picks are a good choice, they are really bendy and encourage a brushing, rather than digging action.
Try and keep the pick at right angles to the strings. This is because you want the strings to vibrate in an up-and-down motion, not side to side. A major cause of fret buzz when strumming is getting the strings vibrating in the wrong plane, so keep that pick nice and level.
Don’t hold the pick too hard. Hold it just firm enough to stop it slipping.
Strum near to, or over, the sound hole for most of the time.
RELAX - I have seen people look like they are chopping wood when strumming, with a rigid arm going up and down, and no wrist movement at all. Chill out! You want to feel like there is no tension in your arm at all, just a nice loose feeling.
Metronome:
If you want to get really good at strumming, or even move from rubbish to average, you want to get yourself a metronome. It doesn’t matter if its and all singing, all dancing digital one that plays a myriad of different tempos, or a traditional wind up variety that just ticks its merry way at your chosen speed, just make sure you have one.
