Tag Archives: Scale Positions

In the last lesson, we harmonized the G major scale in first position to understand the chords and intervals contained within the scale. This type of exercise is great because it reinforces four essential skills at once: scale position identity, interval recognition, root note awareness, and diatonic harmony. In this lesson, we’re going to do the same with the G minor scale.

I always enjoy exercises that are more encompassing than just learning a single skill. In this lesson, we’re going to harmonize the G major scale in first position to understand the chords and intervals of the key as a single system. This reinforces four essential skills at once: scale position identity, interval recognition, root note awareness, and diatonic harmony.

The C major pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale derived from its parent scale, the C major scale. It consists of the notes C, D, E, G and A. In this lesson we’ll take a look at how the scale is built, the 5 CAGED positions of the scale, and some real world applications of the scale.

The pentatonic scale, by far, has to be the most widely used guitar scale. Its versatility and playability is unmatched. In this lesson, we take an overall view of the pentatonic scale, how it’s formed, the two most common pentatonic scales used in music, and the patterns of the pentatonic scale.

The pentatonic scale may be the most versatile scale in music. If there’s one scale guitar players must master, this is the one. In this lesson we’re going to look at some pentatonic scale exercises to help you thoroughly learn the scale patterns and play through them fluidly with flawless technique.

In this lesson we take a look at the solo to one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs, Yellow Ledbetter. We’ll analyze the chord progression, scales, and walk through the guitar tab to understand the theory behind the solo.

As guitarists, once we learn the pentatonic boxes we seem to immediately strive to get “out of the box” and extend our playing up and down the fretboard. However, what if instead of trying to get out of the box, we seek to maximize what each box position has to offer?

In a previous lesson, we looked at the 3 notes per string major scale, which is a way to outline major scale patterns across the fretboard using 3 notes on each string. In this lesson we’re going to do the same thing with the minor scale and build out the 3 notes per string minor scale patterns.

In this lesson we’re going to dive into the Let It Be guitar solo by The Beatles. Let It Be is on the 1970 album of the same name. Performed by George Harrison, this is a great solo for the beginner-intermediate guitar player to learn.