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Chords are constructed from roots, thirds and fifths. These intervals come from the major scale where the scale degrees produce different triads, some major and some minor (and one diminished).  Guitar players add chord tones and extensions to triads by incorporating other degrees from the major scale. These added scale degrees include 2nds, [...]

You know you have arrived as a guitarist when you have your own scale pattern named after you. Much like the “Hendrix Chord” a.k.a. E7#9 or the “Bo Diddley Beat”, blues guitar ambassador B.B. King has a scale fingering that many players associate with him. It’s a testament to B.B.’s wonderful approach,touch, sound, [...]

This holiday lesson is a solo arrangement of the classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Just a few items to note to help you play through this smoothly. The most important aspect is to get the bottom of the chords to ring through the melody notes. For the ease of reading the tab and [...]

Many times guitarists are required to play the same chord for several measures of music or we just want to add some spice to the more commonly played chords. A nice variation or embellishment to a basic triad is a 6th chord. A 7th chord is a very strong sound and it sometimes [...]

One of the main concerns for players of varying levels is knowledge of the fretboard. Specifically, being able to identify any pitch everywhere on the neck. There are a variety of ways to learn this but it seems that many guitarists don’t have a specific method. Learning the open strings and counting up [...]

One of the benefits of the guitar is the ability to see/memorize patterns and shapes for scales and chords. The downfall of patternistic playing is just that, at times it can sound mechanical and predictable. Visual recognition is of course part and parcel of learning the instrument and should be embraced, but we [...]