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The whole reason we learn scales and patterns is that they are used in songs and riffs that we hear every day. By learning your scales and being able to use them musically, you can make it easier for you to learn riffs or melodies that you want to learn. Let’s look at the riff from Born Of A Broken Man by Rage Against The Machine: 
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This is a helpful jazz guitar voicing for a G7#11 chord. This is a movable voicing with the root on the 6th string, meaning that you can change the letter name of this chord by moving it up or down the neck. Note: The #11 can also be called a b5. You might see G7#11 or G7b5 on a chord chart, but this chord shape covers either name. On the left is the G7#11 chord shown with the chord tones/intervals used, and on the right is the recommended finger pattern.
This chord can be used for any dominant 7th (G7, C7, etc) type chord you come across.
Whether it calls for G7, G9, or anything else with a 7 or higher in the chord symbol, this chord will work. This is an important scale pattern for improvising and playing melodies to jazz standards. Many melodies use the major scale in some way shape or form as a foundation. While melodies will likely have notes that don’t fit this pattern exactly, it can serve as a template to keep yourself organized when you play.  Playing Example This is a helpful jazz guitar voicing for a Major 9th chord. This is a movable voicing with the root on the 5th string, meaning that you can change the letter name of this chord by moving it up or down the neck. On the left is the Cmaj9 chord shown with the chord tones/intervals used, and on the right is the recommended finger pattern.
This chord can be used for any major 7th type chord you come across. Whether it calls for Cmaj7, Cmaj9, or anything else with a “maj” in the chord symbol, this chord will work.
Listening to great guitarists is an essential part of learning to play guitar. Hearing great players will give you ideas, inspiration, and help you develop your own unique sound. Below you'll find a list of some of my favorite guitar players in a variety of styles, with links to recordings of their playing. This list will get updated regularly, so check back often. If there's a guitarist that isn't on this list that you think should be or any of the links don't work for you, contact me and let me know! Jazz GuitarBlues GuitarRock GuitarWhen it comes to playing guitar, you are what you listen to. So keep listening to great guitar players of any style you like.
Keep checking back to see what's new on the list, and feel free to contact me to let me know what you're listening to!  Learning the notes on the guitar neck is an important part of learning guitar, but is often overlooked in guitar lessons.
This lesson is the second part in a series about learning the notes on the guitar neck. If you haven’t gone through the lesson on natural notes, click here. Learning the natural and sharp notes on the fretboard will help prepare you for more advanced guitar playing skills like movable chord and fill in some of the gaps in your fretboard knowledge. There is a simple process you can use that will help you learn all of the natural and sharp note names on every string, and it only takes a few minutes a day to master. In this lesson you will learn:
 Pentatonic scales are an essential skill for any guitar player.
They are almost always a good first bet when playing a guitar solo, and are an essential building block for becoming a complete guitar player. This is the second part in a series of lessons on the major and minor pentatonic scales for guitar. If you haven’t caught the lesson on 6th string pentatonic scales yet, click here. Once you’re comfortable using your major and minor Pentatonic scales starting on the 6th string, it’s a good idea to learn a new scale pattern. Learning the pentatonic scales on the 5th string will give you new options for playing in different keys, and because the finger pattern is different these new scale shapes will help you develop new musical ideas.  Jazz improvisation for guitar often becomes more complicated than it really needs to be.
For some students, even learning how to improvise along with a blues progression can be a difficult thing to do. Both students and teachers dive deep into the theory aspect of soloing, and get stuck thinking about what they are going to play instead of using their ears and creating interesting melodies. One reason for this is that traditional theory doesn’t apply to the blues in a literal way, so students have to learn the theory in traditional terms, and then learn all of the exceptions that apply to the blues. This way, you end up having to learn, unlearn, and relearn your theory - just to play a blues solo on the blues. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this complicated. Getting A Good Sound Getting a good sound for jazz on guitar is a combination of your equipment, settings on your electronics, and you as the player.
If you want to sound good playing jazz, you need to listen to great jazz guitar players. Spend some time figuring out what you can do to match the sound of guitarists like Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, and Jim Hall for starters. Your equipment also plays a part in the sound you create with it. Having the right strings and picks, the guitar and amplifier you use, and knowing how to adjust your tone and volume settings can all make a big difference.  Once you’re comfortable with the basic 3 note jazz guitar chord shapes, it’s time to start applying them to chord progressions.
Chord progressions are sequences of chords that fit together in a key song. If you don't know the basic 3 note jazz guitar shapes yet, click here. From a practical standpoint, playing a chord progression means smoothly moving from one chord to another. While you could jump straight into learning songs, there is a simple chord progression that you should probably learn first. The 2 5 1 (or ii V I) progression is an extremely common progression to come across in jazz music, and it is a great place for you to start when you are comfortable with your basic jazz guitar chords. Because it is so common, this progression should be internalized and it’s a good idea to practice it in every key. In this lesson you will learn 2 different patterns for the 2 5 1 progression that you can use at any point of the guitar to play in different keys. One of these patterns starts and ends on the 6th string, so we’ll call it the 6th string pattern. The other pattern starts and ends on the 5th string, so we’ll call it the 5th string pattern. |
