The harmonic minor scale. A staple in classical music and a fan favorite of the neoclassical shredders, it’s sinister sound catches the ear.

When starting out on the guitar, or any instrument for that matter, it’s important to build a strong foundation. Seems like a pretty common sense principle, but we all can agree that we’ve had to fight the urge to tackle more advanced concepts and techniques before we were ready for them. So with this lesson I’d like to hit on the essential guitar chords for beginners to learn.

Like its major counterpart, the minor pentatonic scale is a highly popular scale due to its versatility and playability. A staple in blues music, this scale brings moodiness and tension that creates that familiar blues feel, particular when played over major/dominant chords.

In this lesson we look at chord formula basics to help make sense of these names and build an understanding of how chords are made.

Few concepts in music theory provide an “aha” moment quite like learning about the relative minor and relative major keys. The realization of the relationship between the two brings quite a bit of clarity to the learning the major/minor scale patterns and sets the groundwork for exploring the concept of modes.

The importance of knowing the intervals on guitar can’t be overstated. It allows you to better understand how scales and chords are constructed and gives you a deeper understanding of how music works.

When it comes to soloing, the blues scale is one of the most popular scales used.  It’s used across many genres of music, from blues to rock to jazz and others. Let’s take a look at what makes up this widely used scale.

Building chords from the major scale sets the foundation for writing and understanding chord progressions, transposing to other keys, and developing your ear as a guitarist. In this lesson you’ll learn how chords are constructed from the major scale by stacking 3rds, what determines the quality of these chords, and how these chords map to the fretboard.

What is the minor scale? What makes it minor vs major? In this lesson we’ll break down the natural minor scale and it’s qualities and take a look at how it is applied to the fretboard.