Five Positions in 29 Minutes

Yet more pentatonic practice

 Posted on June 21, 2019 at 11:58  |  11 minutes  |  2294 words  |  Rex Walters

Here is a 29 minute exercise and tracking system to learn, REALLY learn, the pentatonic scale everywhere on the neck as quickly as possible.

Sorry for the clickbait headline, but you probably won’t be able to complete the entire exercise the first time you try it. It will likely take you at least a few days, but the tracking system ensures you will continue to make progress. After several days or weeks practicing this one exercise, you’ll be able to complete the exercise in 29 minutes for real. More importantly, you’ll be able to effortlessly find the closest pentatonic scale shape anywhere on the neck.

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soloing  scales  practice 

Dominating with Tritones

 Posted on May 7, 2019 at 15:31  |  5 minutes  |  1065 words  |  Rex Walters

A tritone is an interval of three tones, or three whole steps. It can also be considered a diminished (or flat) fifth (the blue note). Because it splits an octave evenly in half, it has some really cool characteristics and applications (though on its own it will sound pretty discordant and unstable). The interval between G and D♭ is a tritone, for example, but so is the interval between D♭ and G! [Read More]
soloing  practice 

Learning to Solo

Yet more about the pentatonic scale

 Posted on May 3, 2019 at 16:44  |  16 minutes  |  3263 words  |  Rex Walters

Like most beginning guitarists, I dream of being able to effortlessly “trade licks” with other players, switching freely between rhythm and lead, and creating beautiful melodies on the fly. Rhythm (accompaniment or “comping”) and melody (lead or soloing) are far more intertwined than you might think. Both require that you truly and thoroughly understand (i.e. KNOW) basic scales. I believe that both are utterly dependent on knowing, really KNOWING at least the minor pentatonic scale and a few chord/arpeggio shapes. [Read More]
soloing  scales  practice 

Practicing with Actual Songs

 Posted on February 2, 2019 at 14:23  |  7 minutes  |  1338 words  |  Rex Walters

This page is about practicing notes on the 6th string using actual songs. This is part 3 of 6 about learning the notes on the fretboard: Just 12 notes. (Background material) Open and E strings Practicing with actual songs (this page) Fret 5 and String 5 Octave Shapes Whole Fretboard Everything on this page is completely optional. Feel free to skip ahead to the next lesson in the series if you just want to continue learning the notes. [Read More]
fretboard  practice  songs 

Thoughts About Practice

 Posted on January 20, 2019 at 14:48  |  17 minutes  |  3590 words  |  Rex Walters

Nobody improves without practice, regular practice. But too many people (myself included) unconsciously start to dread (and thus avoid) their practice sessions. I believe this happens for just two reasons: motivation and time.

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practice 

Whole Fretboard

 Posted on January 16, 2019 at 22:08  |  10 minutes  |  2077 words  |  Rex Walters

This is the sixth and final lesson on learning the notes of the fretboard:: Just 12 notes. (Background material) Open and E strings Practicing with actual songs Fret 5 and String 5 Octave Shapes Whole Fretboard (this page) This diagram of all the natural notes should look considerably less intimidating now: The natural notes We’ve already drilled extensively on the outside E strings and the A strings, but we still need to learn the remaining notes on the D, G, and B strings. [Read More]
fretboard  practice 

Fret 5 & String 5

 Posted on January 13, 2019 at 12:32  |  10 minutes  |  2096 words  |  Rex Walters

Let’s get a few more notes under our fingers and into our brains. This is part 4 of 6 about learning the notes on the fretboard: Just 12 notes. (Background material) Open and E strings Practicing with actual songs Fret 5 and String 5 (this page) Octave Shapes Whole Fretboard As we described previously, if we KNOW the notes of the open strings and at the 12th fret, it’s handy to also KNOW the notes at the 5th fret because it’s almost half way between. [Read More]
fretboard  practice 

Open and E Strings

First waypoints

 Posted on January 6, 2019 at 20:01  |  26 minutes  |  5495 words  |  Rex Walters

This document presents a number of exercises to learn the names of all the natural notes on the fretboard. This is part 2 of 6 about learning the notes on the fretboard: Just 12 notes. (Background material) Open and E strings (this page) Practicing with actual songs Fret 5 and String 5 Octave Shapes Whole Fretboard Try not to be intimidated, but here is what we are eventually going to learn (this diagram is just for the first 15 frets, but you will learn your entire fretboard). [Read More]
fretboard  practice 

Octave Shapes

A navigational tool

 Posted on January 1, 0001 at 00:00  |  9 minutes  |  1914 words  |  Rex Walters

This is part 5 of 6 pages dedicated to learning the notes on the fretboard: Just 12 notes. (Background material) Open and E strings Practicing with actual songs Fret 5 and String 5 Octave Shapes (this page) Whole Fretboard Here’s the complete diagram of the fretboard again: The natural notes Hopefully it looks a little less intimidating than the first time you saw it. [Read More]
fretboard  practice