Guitar Lesson 7

Lesson 7

In this lesson we will make the 1st position C major scale 2 octaves by shifting into 5th position. We will also extend the 2nd position C scale and look at all of the notes from the key of C/Am in 2nd position. We will also look at the Cadd 2 chord and a new way to play an open G chord, plus a new strum pattern.

Review lesson 6 and be sure to have somewhat of an understanding of the material in 7 before moving on to lesson 8.

Reading Lesson 7

Scales - Open C major scale 2 octaves with shift to 5th position

When you shift into 5th position be sure your first (index) finger plays the A, third finger plays the B and little finger plays the C. This is important to develop clean precise shifting.

Use a metronome and work to play through the shift as smooth as possible.

guitar fretboard , 2 octave C major scale shifting from open to 5th position.

Listen midi file - right click to open in new window

C major scale in 2nd extended

To the right is a our 2nd position C major scale we learned in lesson 4 and beside that is the extended C major scale. In other words, all of the notes in the key of C/Am in 2nd position.

We will have to stretch our 1st finger back to the first fret for the low and high F.

C Major scale
2nd position

C major/A Minor scale
Extended 2nd Pos.

A minor

We learned in lesson 5 that if we go down 3 half steps or to the 6th degree of a major scale we find the note that we start our relative minor on.

So in the case of the C major scale, go down 3 half steps or to the 6th degree of the scale and you get A.

Play from A to A and you are playing an A minor scale.

A Minor scale
2nd Position

Technique - Patterns

Scale patterns are a fun way to practice scales and are important for improving technique and expanding your improvising vocabulary.

With this particular pattern we will start on C and move up 3 notes, back down 1, up 3, back 1, etc.

For example, if we numbered the scale degrees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, we will go 1 2 3, 2 3 4, 3 4 5, 4 5 6 etc.

You should work on scales and patterns daily. Use different note values and always work with a metronome. Practice with whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes. You should also practice scales and patterns using triplets. If you did not visit the Triplet Page from the free section, do so now.

Below are a few midi files of the above exercise.

Listen

= 50

Listen

= 200

Listen - this is another midi file using the pattern from above played using both eighth notes and eighth note triplets over the megadeth riff from below.

Chords

Dm

In lesson 6 we learned a D major chord so now let us lower the 3rd degree and build a D minor chord. The 3rd degree of a D major scale was F#. So lower that a half step to F natural and we have a D minor chord.

The F# was the 2nd fret of your high E string. So we now play F natural on the 1st fret for a Dm chord.

G type II

This is another way to play a G chord. With the G we learned in lesson 5, it had an open B. With this form we are playing a D on the 3rd fret of our open B string. Just as long as we have one G B and D, we have a G chord and whichever way we play it we will have a G B D.

G(typeII)

Cadd2 (more commonly known as Cadd9)

Cadd2 is a C chord with the 2nd degree of a C major scale added to it. So with this form we have added the D on the 3rd fret of our B string and to make it easy to switch from GtypeII to Cadd2 we have exchanged the open E for a G on the 3rd fret. So we end up with the notes: C D E G

Cadd9

Megadeth - Main riff from Symphony of Destruction

Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction - main riff

This is a fun riff that uses two power chords and a single note line played with F and G on the low E string.

The mp3 to the right actually starts with the F to G back to F single line. I didn't add it to the staff above because it didn't fit on the page as well.

This riff is also great for getting used to counting rests.

Get Started Here

Greenday - Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)

This is an easy chord switch and like in the Tom Petty Free Falling progression from lesson 6, you can leave your 3rd finger down the entire time.



G (type II)	Cadd2	D

Improvising

Use 2nd position C scale with all 7 tones. Try pentatonic. Listen to the difference using the F and B (4th & 7th). The 4th and 7th degree will add more color to your solo.

Be sure to try and work in your new pattern from above.

Midi Jam Track

I will replace this soon with an mp3 and make it much longer. If you have a midi sequencer you can right click, download and loop. Plus you can change tempos which is good for working on scales and arpeggios.

C Major
2nd Position Ext

C Major Pentatonic
2nd Position Ext

Practice

5-10 minutes - scales
5-10 minutes - chords
3-5 minutes - arpeggios
10-144 minutes - improvising

Review lesson 7

Next lesson 8