Lessons

Sick Licks: Getting Aggressive With the A Minor Blues Scale

Glenn Proudfoot — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:14:32 +0000

In this Sick Lick, I'm using the A Minor blues scale.

In its traditional form, we would tend to use the Flat 5 note as a passing note (to slide in and out of or to bend from) to get a real bluesy sound.

What I do here is, rather than using the Flat 5 (D#) as a passing note, I tend to base the scale around this note. What this does is create an extremely aggressive sound, and it makes the scale awesome to use in heavier styles of music.

This is apparent straight away from the first arpeggio sweep that I do. Rather than fret the E note on the 12th fret of the high E, I fret the D# (flat 5), which really sets up the lick as a super-aggressive-sounding run.

The first section of this lick is one of my favorite runs! I love how it creates a really alien-like sound. One of the keys to getting this right is making sure you're double picking the G string (19th fret) on the transition on the way back down the guitar to the first arpeggio position, as this sets up the picking pattern and creates and even flow with the sweeping.

It's very important to focus hard on your picking hand. You need to have perfect control over the sweeping sections, even though, in principle, all we are doing when sweep picking is dragging the pick across the strings in one direction as if we were strumming a chord. We still need to have control of that motion and make sure your left and right hands are syncing up. This is the secret to playing this type of technique, so, like anything else, practice slowly and focus on the timing and syncopation between your hands.

The next section where I tap the note on the 20th fret is a very cool way of creating a very fast sounding arpeggio. It's important when tapping this note that you are picking the notes before as close as possible to the spot where you will actually be tapping so you don't have to move your right hand too far. This might not seem so important, but believe me, once you get this lick up to speed, it is essential! It’s little things like this that can make the difference!

Please feel free to join me on Youtube here.

Rock on!

Australia's Glenn Proudfoot has played and toured with major signed bands and artists in Europe and Australia, including progressive rockers Prazsky Vyber. Glenn released his first instrumental solo album, Lick Em, in 2010. It is available on iTunes and at glennproudfoot.com. Glenn was featured in the October 2010 issue of Guitar World and now creates "Betcha Can’t Play This" segments and lessons for GW. Glenn also has a monthly GW column, "Loud & Proud," which offers insight into his style and approach to the guitar. Glenn is working on a project with Ezekiel Ox (ex Mammal) and Lucius Borich (Cog), which is managed by Ted Gardner, ex-Tool and Jane's Addiction manager. The band has done pre-production on 22 tracks and is set to hit the studio and finish their first studio album. The album is set for release in 2012. Glenn also is working on the followup to his debut album; it, too, will be released in 2012.

Jazz Guitar Corner: Four Ways to Practice Drop 2 Chords Through the Cycle of 4ths

Matt Warnock — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:08:50 +0000

Learning to play dominant 7th chords and Drop 2 chord voicings is essential in the development of any jazz guitarist.

While both of these concepts are important to have under your fingers, running them through exercises such as inversions or chromatically across the neck, although productive exercises, can sometimes lead to boredom in the practice room.

Because of this, one of the ways I like to practice and teach these chords is to run them through all 12 keys by using the cycle of 4ths. With this approach, you not only get all of these chords under your fingers, but you see them used in a progression that moves across the entire neck, you learn to alternate inversions within the context of multiple keys, and you begin to see how these inversions relate to each other when applied to a multi-key cycle.

In this article, we’ll explore four ways that you can practice Drop 2 chords through the cycle of 4ths, learning all four inversions of these chords in 12 keys along the way.

For the sake of space, I have only written these exercises on the middle four strings, so make sure to take them to the top and bottom four-string sets as well when you explore these exercises further in your practice room.

Cycle of 4ths

The cycle used in this exercise to move through all of the 12 keys is called the cycle of 4ths. For those that are familiar with the cycle of 5ths, this is just that cycle but moving in reverse. As the name suggests, each interval between two different chords in the cycle is a Perfect 4th, which continues through all of the keys until you return to your starting note.

Here is how the cycle looks starting on the note G.

G – C – F – Bb – Eb – Ab – Db – Gb – B – E – A – D – G

Notice that each chord moves down by the interval of a Perfect 4th, creating the Cycle of 4ths mentioned above.

This sequence is beneficial for practicing chord voicings, as compared to simply playing them chromatically up or down the neck, because it forces you to think about which chord is next in the sequence, as well as allowing you to move between multiple inversions as you progress through all 12 keys in the cycle.

Now that you have a short background on the Cycle of 4ths, let’s take a look at how you can use this cycle to learn and practice Drop 2 Dominant 7th chords.

Root Position and 2nd Inversion Drop 2 7th Chords

We are going to start these exercises with a root position G7 chord and work it through all 12 keys using the cycle of 4ths as seen above.

When doing so, a pattern starts to emerge, which is the alteration of root position (tonic in the bass) and 2nd inversion (5th in the bass) chords as you move down the neck. Knowing this can help you memorize this exercise and quickly find the closest next chord in the sequence.

Here is how this exercise looks on paper. Once you have it down starting on G7, try starting this same exercise on all the other 11 7th chords in the sequence and work your way around the cycle of 4ths from all 12 possible root notes.

One of the cool side effects of alternating root position and 2nd inversion chords is that you can do the reverse and it will also work out on the fretboard. So, you can start this exercise on a 2nd inversion chord, such as C7 in the example below, and then alternate 2nd inversion and root position chords around the cycle of 4ths to cover all 12 keys on the neck.

This means that you if you learn the root-2nd inversion alternating exercise, you have already learned the 2nd inversion –root position alternating exercise at the same time, effectively getting twice as much bang for your buck in the woodshed.

1st and 3rd Inversion Drop 2 7th Chords

You can also work on drop 2 chords through the cycle of 4ths by alternating 1st (3rd in bass) and 3rd (7th in bass) voicings down the neck.

In the following example you can see that the first chord, F7, is in 1st inversion and the second chord, Bb7, is in 3rd inversion, with this pattern continuing down the neck through all 12 keys in the cycle of 4ths.

In the same way that you double-dipped with the root position and 2nd inversion chords, if you start this exercise on the 3rd inversion and alternate it with the 1st inversion you can work your way through all 12 keys in the cycle of 4ths without having to learn anything new.

Here is how that would look starting with a Bb7 chord in 3rd inversion.

After you have explored these chords by starting in different keys, adding in rhythmic variety and bringing them to a tune that has these changes, such as “Jordu” or the bridge to “Rhythm Changes,” try applying these same exercises to Drop 2 chords on the top and bottom four strings of the guitar.

Running 7th chords through the cycle of 4ths will not only help you get these drop 2 chords under your fingers, but they will help you to see your neck better and train your ears to hear this commonly used bass movement, cycling in 4th intervals, all of which can help you reach the next level in your development as a jazz guitarist.

Do you have a favorite way to practice Dominant Cycles? If so, share it in the comments section below.

Photo: Leandro Couri

Matt Warnock is the owner of mattwarnockguitar.com, a free website that provides hundreds of lessons and resources designed to help guitarists of all experience levels meet their practice and performance goals. Matt lives in the UK, where he is a senior lecturer at the Leeds College of Music and an examiner for the London College of Music (Registry of Guitar Tutors).

Veil of Maya "Winter Is Coming Soon" Video Lesson

Josh Hart — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:52:37 +0000

Veil of Maya released their latest album, Eclipse, back in February on Sumerian Records. Just in case some of those guitar parts have you scratching your head, we're continuing our series of exclusive lessons with guitarist Marc Okubo to show you some key cuts off the album.

Today's lesson features the songs "Winter is Coming Soon." If you missed the first lesson, "Vicious Circles," head here.

For more on the band, you can check them out on Facebook and pick up Eclipse via iTunes here.

Guitar 101: Learning Harmony Through Six-Note Hexatonic Scales, Part 2

Jimmy Brown — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:02:56 +0000

Last time we learned how to combine two completely different triads (three-note chords) to create a six-note hexatonic scale. Using E major and F# minor triads to illustrate, we generated the blissful, gospel-flavored E major hexatonic scale (E F# G# A B C#) and looked at some neat examples of the many things you can do with it. As I mentioned at the end of the lesson, there’s a virtual mother lode of cool and unusual hexatonic scales waiting to be unearthed. All you have to do to find them is combine any two triads that don’t share any common tones (hint: combining E major and E minor won’t give you six different notes because both triads contain E and B).

A good way to begin this exploratory self-study is to take the E major and F# minor triads from last month and change only one note in one of the triads. For example, substituting the note C for C# in the F# minor triad yields F# diminished (F# A C). Now look what happens when we alternate this triad with E major (E G# B) up the neck to create a chord-scale (see FIGURE 1).

As you can hear, the result is a somewhat darker- and moodier-sounding hexatonic scale (E F# G# A B C) that’s also very pleasing to the ear, albeit in a bittersweet kind of way. (To hear this six-note scale in isolation, play only the notes on the high E string.) This hauntingly beautiful scale—I like to call it the "sentimental scale"—is reminiscent of Western art music from the Romantic period (late 19th century).

FIGURE 2 shows a repeated flowing single-note run in E that starts out with the major hexatonic ("gospel") scale (E F# G# A B C#) we looked at last month then changes to the "sentimental" scale with the substitution of C for C#. Listen to the way the musical "color" changes as the underlying scale mutates. This is something you may want to experiment with when composing or improvising a melody on a blank harmonic canvas (such as a groove or drone in E).

For the sake of comparison, and as a productive self-teaching exercise, try taking all of the E major hexatonic examples from last month and changing every C# note to C natural (we already did this with FIGURE 1) to create similar licks using the E "sentimental" scale. In fact, it would be well worth your while to take each new hexatonic scale you learn and try plugging it into any of the examples presented in this column. You’ll get a lot more mileage out of these exercises if you try adapting them to different scales!

FIGURE 3 is an expressive-sounding ascending triplet pattern that alternates between E major and F# diminished arpeggios. Notice how musically satisfying it is to the ear to hear the harmonic "ebb and flow" (tension and release) as the two triads alternate, with the pattern eventually resolving to the perceived tonic, E. This also happens to be an excellent technical exercise that gives both hands a good workout while offering you a way to learn and review a variety of diminished arpeggio shapes without losing your mind.

Now that we know how to go about creating different hexatonic scales by pairing unlike triads, let’s try generating another one. To do this we’ll first go back to E and F#m. This time, instead of lowering the C# note in the F#m triad to C (to produce F# diminished), we’re going to raise it to D. This gives us a cool and rather bright-sounding hexatonic scale built from E and D major triads (see FIGURE 4); I like to call this the "leprechaun" scale because it sounds clever and "tricky," especially when you use it to play licks like this (see FIGURE 5).

This gymnastic melody, which, incidentally, was inspired by the old fiddle tune "The Irish Washerwoman," requires some deft flatpicking, a quick position shift and a formidable stretch, so approach it slowly at first using a light touch until you feel you can play it comfortably, then try pushing the tempo up a notch a time.

You can also think of this scale as the E Mixolydian mode (E F# G# A B C# D) without the sixth (C#). The six-note version still retains the essence of the Mixolydian sound (with the major third, G# and the lowered seventh, D) while offering you a fresh approach to phrasing.

As an interesting and useful review, FIGURE 6 shows all three hexatonic scales we’ve learned thus far played back-to-back in a short, one-octave repeating lick. Notice how the line’s harmonic "flavor" completely changes as you alter only one note.

Sick Licks: Go Over the Top With the A Minor Pentatonic Scale

Glenn Proudfoot — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:09:58 +0000

In this Sick Lick, I'm using the A Minor Pentatonic Scale.

The lick is played high on the neck, which makes some of the transitions very difficult, but the results are worth it.

We start this lick with a five-string arpeggio, then slide up to the 22nd fret and start moving back down the neck. You'll notice most of the really fast sections are created with three- and five-string arpeggios. I love this technique as it gives a really dynamic sound to your soloing and enables you to move up and down the neck freely and at high speed.

It's important to focus on the first note, which we fret with our thumb on the low E string. It's from this point that we make the transition and bring our left hand over the top to start fretting the guitar over the top of the neck. The note we fret with our thumb creates the pivot point to swing our left hand over the neck. It's important to focus on this part of this lick so you can master this transition (bringing your hand over the top).

Once my hand is over the top, notice that I pick a six-string arpeggio moving down the neck; then I pick another six-string arpeggio with the last note, which is, again, fretted with the thumb to enable the transition back to fretting the guitar the traditional way.

I tend to practice the over-the-top sections separately to strengthen my fretting hand as you actually depend on some different muscles once you bring our hand over the top of the fretboard, and it needs a lot of work to master.

This is very tricky, but like anything else, practice it slowly and be sure to sound out all the notes. The part that's the most difficult for you is the part you should focus on.

I like to work on techniques like this purely because I like to challenge myself. I believe that every technique you master, whether or not you use it in your music, will make you a better artist/guitarist.

I finish this lick by using three-string arpeggios and legato while moving up the neck. This is one of my favorite ways to move up the scale as a lead in to a bend, as you will hear it is a cool way to finish a solo or to simply use as a passage to lead in to a bend. You can break any section of this Sick Lick apart and simply take from it what you like. There are so many ideas and techniques in here that require a lot of work, so if you feel it may be beyond your level for the moment, choose a small section and work on that. Just have some fun with the idea!

As with any of these licks, your goal should be to have fun and try and take something out of it to add to your playing -- no matter how small!

Guitar 101: Learning Harmony Through Six-Note Hexatonic Scales, Part 1

Jimmy Brown — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:10:09 +0000

Anyone who’s ever made an effort to learn some music theory knows that one of the biggest turn-offs is the sound of the major scale harmonized in triads (three-note chords). But before you dismiss the intellectual approach to learning music as being hopelessly tedious and uninspiring, realize that it doesn’t have to be that way.

To that end, I’d like to turn you on to an unorthodox method of teaching yourself harmony on the guitar that’s fun, relatively easy and won’t make you become clinically depressed. The entire approach is based on combining pairs of mutually exclusive triads to create six-note hexatonic scales, which happen to sound very musical. The only rule is that the two triads can’t share any common tones, because then you wouldn’t have six notes, would you?

Unlike the standard seven-note scales and modes, most of which have a rather boring contour (too many notes too close together) or the primitive- and hollow-sounding five-note pentatonic scales, the hexatonic scales have a very balanced and inherently interesting quality that lends itself exceptionally well to melody and phrasing.

Still with me? Okay. Allow me to illustrate. FIGURE 1 depicts the major hexatonic scale—I like to call it the “gospel” scale, or the “Wonderbra” scale, because it sounds so uplifting—harmonized up the neck on the top three strings in the key of E (a rather useful guitar key). As you can see and hear, this very soothing and “down home”-sounding scale is comprised of E major (E G# B) and F# minor (F# A C#) triads (E G# B + F# A C# = E F# G# A B C#).

As you strum (or pluck) this chord-scale, notice the way the two alternating triads (E and F#m) leapfrog over each other up and down the neck, producing a very satisfying feeling of harmonic tension and release. You can also look at it as playing the same scale up and down three strings at the same time. Practice this figure slowly and listen closely to the way the individual voices move within each triad inversion (ear training is the key to musical growth!). If you play only the notes on the high E string, you’ll discover that this set of tones may also be reckoned as either the E major scale (Ionian mode) without the annoying seventh (D#) or the E major pentatonic scale with the fourth (A) added.

Let’s look at some useful applications of this sweet-sounding scale (all examples are in the key of E). FIGURE 2 is a smooth legato run in the ninth position that works its way across the neck using ascending hammer-ons and descending pull-offs. Notice how the E major chord tones (E G# B) land squarely on each downbeat.

FIGURE 3 is a classic Allman Brothers–style syncopated melody harmonized in thirds and fourths, à la Dickey Betts.
So what is it about the number 6 that makes it so conducive to rhythmic phrasing? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that 6 is a factorable number (2 x 3), whereas 5 and 7 are prime? While you’re pondering that phenomenon, check out the way FIGURE 4 just seems to roll right off your fingertips.

Here’s a musically gratifying and technically invigorating pattern for you to play around with (FIGURE 5). Not a bad way to learn and practice two different sets of arpeggios, eh?

The information presented in this lesson is merely the tip of the musical iceberg when it comes to hexatonics. Over the next several columns we’ll be checking out an interesting variety of exotic six-note scales that will no doubt make you want to further explore this fascinating approach to harmony and melody.

Jazz Guitar Corner: Using Three Different Scales to Improvise Over Minor Key ii-V-i’s

Matt Warnock — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:33:51 +0000

One of the first progressions many guitarists tackle when learning to improvise in the jazz idiom is the ii-V-I.

This common three-chord progression can be found in countless jazz tunes, and improvising over these chords in a convincing fashion is a must-know skill for any budding jazz guitarist to have under their fingers.

When beginning to explore these important chords in the practice room, many of us work out the major key ii-V-I’s and think to ourselves, “Well, that wasn’t too bad” But when we jump over and start checking out minor key ii-V-i progressions, it can be a totally different story.

Whereas you can technically use one scale over all three chords in a major key ii-V-I, at least when starting out, that same approach falls flat when tackling minor key ii-V-i’s. Because of this, you’ll need to use three different scales, one for each chord, to properly outline each change in the progression.

In this lesson, we’ll take a look at how to use three different scales to improvise over minor key ii-V-i’s while still keeping everything related to the tonic key. This will allow you to sound each chord in the progression, while keeping things connected in a meaningful way to the tonic chord in that particular key.

Tonic Natural Minor: iim7b5

The first chord in the progression is the iim7b5 chord, Dm7b5 in the key of C minor as in the example below.

For this chord, we’re going to improvise using the C Natural Minor (Aeolian) Scale. I’ve written out this scale starting on the note D, so that you can see how it relates to the chord in question. This produces a D Locrian Mode for those of you who prefer to think about modes in that fashion.

Try soloing with a C Natural Minor Scale over a Dm7b5 backing track to get a feel for how this scale sounds over the iim7b5 chord.

Tonic Harmonic Minor: V7alt

For the second chord in the progression, V7alt or G7b9b13 in this key, we will apply the tonic Harmonic Minor Scale. This means that over a G7alt chord you will solo using the C Harmonic Minor Scale. When applied to a V7 chord, this scale produces both b9 and b13 intervals which take care of the “alt” part of the chord, and give you plenty of tension to play with over this change before resolving to the next chord in the progression.

This approach, the 5th mode of Harmonic Minor over a dominant 7 chord, is a great sounding and widely used approach to soloing over these chords in a jazz context. Being able to apply this mode to a V7 chord will not only help you within the context of a ii-V-i progression, but it will allow you to spice up any 7th chord that you find in different tunes and vamps.

Tonic Melodic Minor: im6

To navigate the last chord in the progression, im6 or Cm6 in this key, you will delve into the tonic Melodic Minor Scale in your solos. This scale produces both a M6 and M7 intervals, giving it a very strong and tense sound over minor chords, as compared to the more mellow Dorian or Aeolian modes that you may have already been using with this chord.

Tonic Scales for Minor ii-V-i

Check out the example below to see how all three tonic minor scales fit over a ii-V-i progression in the key of C minor.

In this example, I’ve started each scale on the tonic, C, for an easy and quick comparison. In order to apply this concept to your playing, you’ll need to have these three different scales under your fingers in different parts of the neck.

So, if any of these three scales is new to you, or you don’t feel you have a strong command of them on the guitar, take the time to really get these scales down on the fretboard. It will not only help you navigate this progression, but many others in the jazz idiom as well.

Three Minor iim7b5-V7alt-im6 Licks

To finish up, I’ve written out three of my favorite minor ii-V-i licks that use the 3 minor scale approach over each chord.

Learn these licks and take them to different keys across the neck. Try improvising with them and altering them as you go, adding notes, taking notes away, changing the rhythm etc.

Then, once you have these licks under your fingers, write out some of your own. Or, if you feel comfortable, transcribe a few minor ii-V-i licks by your favorite players to see how they use this approach in their playing.

Practice Tips

Here are five ways you can take these ideas into the woodshed and explore them further in the practice room.

• Improvise over each chord separately using a backing track in all 12 keys. Stick to the corresponding scale for that chord, i.e. Natural Minor for the m7b5 chord in any key.
• Combine the iim7b5 and V7alt chords and improvise over them in 12 keys.
• Combine the V7alt and the im6 chords and improvise over them in all 12 keys
• Put all three chords together and improvise over ii-V-i’s in all 12 keys.
• Do the above four exercises using a variety of tempos, from a 50 bpm to 250 and beyond.

Have you checked out these three tonic minor scales over ii-V-i progressions? If so, share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Photo: Leandro Couri

In Deep: Dickey Betts

Andy Aledort — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:42:41 +0000

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Combining elements of blues, rock, jazz, country, folk, bluegrass and world music, Dickey Betts forged his signature sound while laying the groundwork — along with Grateful Dead guitarist/leader Jerry Garcia — for the unique, progressive and forever mysterious genre known as "jam band" music.

In this edition of "In Deep," we'll take a look at a few of the scales Dickey relies on most when weaving his classic solos and melodic patterns.

Part 1

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

In this edition of "In Deep," we'll take a look at a few of the scales Dickey relies on most when weaving his classic solos and melodic patterns.

Part 2

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

In this edition of "In Deep," we'll take a look at a few of the scales Dickey relies on most when weaving his classic solos and melodic patterns.

Part 3

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

In this edition of "In Deep," we'll take a look at a few of the scales Dickey relies on most when weaving his classic solos and melodic patterns.

Part 4

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Last Licks: Open-Chord Riffs

Martin Goulding — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:18:57 +0000

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

This month, I'll show you how to play crushing open-chord riffs in the styles of five legendary classic rock riffmeisters — Queen's Brian May, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, AC/DC's Angus Young, Whitesnake's Micky Moody and Boston's Tom Scholz.

Veil of Maya "Vicious Circles" Video Lesson

Josh Hart — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:40:12 +0000

Veil of Maya released their latest album, Eclipse, back in February on Sumerian Records. Just in case some of those guitar parts have you scratching your head, we're kicking off a series of exclusive lessons with guitarist Marc Okubo to show you some key cuts off the album.

Today's lesson features the songs "Vicious Circles," track number eight off Eclipse.

For more on the band, you can check them out on Facebook and pick up Eclipse via iTunes here.

Sick Licks: Fretting with Five Fingers in Pentatonic and Diminished Scales

Glenn Proudfoot — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:34:07 +0000

In this Sick Lick, I use a combination of the blues scale (Pentatonic flat 5) and the Diminished Scale in the key of E Minor.

These two scales are, by far, my favorites. They create very aggressive sounds and are adaptable to all kinds of music.

I'm incorporating the use of my left thumb to actually fret notes on the neck. Now I'm not doing this in the traditional form where we may use our thumb to play bass notes; rather, I'm bringing my thumb from around the back of the neck to fret on top of the fretboard.

The thumb technique is a great way to expand your stretch over the fretboard. It also enables you to create some really wide-voiced arpeggios that have a very unique sound and an incredible effect. Not to mention it looks totally bad ass!

I start this Sick Lick with an arpeggio played over the top then quickly switch my hand back and start moving up the neck. You will notice that whenever I fret a note with my thumb, once fretted, I quickly move my thumb back around the neck into the normal position then again bring it around in the same fashion.

Whenever I fret a note with my thumb, my right arm comes into to play by securing the guitar into my body, because once we remove our thumb from behind the guitar, we loose the force our thumb normally gives behind the neck. So I create that by pushing the guitar into my body with my right arm. Although this is only a minor amount of pressure, it really helps in maintaining full control of this technique.

The whole idea with this technique is to create a sound like you have five fingers fretting the guitar.

The technique of bringing your thumb around the back of the neck can be very challenging to get the hang of, now I do this not only in soloing but also to create wide voiced chords, you can see from this video here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gB5gULEC0E
It is very important to make sure you are not straining your wrist or causing yourself any discomfort when attempting this.

Thanks and have fun!

Jazz Guitar Corner: Break Open ii-V’s With This Nine-Note Scale

Matt Warnock — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:33:42 +0000

ii-Vs are some of the most commonly used and important chords in the jazz repertoire. It’s a progression you’ll see often as a jazz guitarist, so being able to confidently solo over these chords is an essential skill.

When first learning to blow over these chords, we often start with the Dorian and Mixolydian modes over each chord, respectively. But, while playing these modes is correct, they often sound too diatonic, not enough tension to really be “jazzy.”

This is where Bebop Scales come into play. In this article, we’ll explore the Minor Bebop Scale, the Dominant Bebop Scale and a hybrid I like to call the Combined Bebop Scale.

As a bonus, there’s a video included to show you how these scales sound in an improvisational context.

So grab your guitar, crank your amp and get ready to add a little jazziness to your solos.

Minor Bebop Scale

The first scale we’ll look at is the Minor Bebop Scale. This scale is built by taking the Dorian Mode and adding in a #7 interval. You can use this scale to solo over a m7 chord as it uses the related mode, and the #7 provides that extra “jazziness” the diatonic modes don’t provide on their own.

Once you have the Minor Bebop Scale under your fingers in the position below, with the root on the 5th string, put on a Dm7 backing track and practice improvising with this scale. Then, move it to other keys around the neck to really ingrain this fingering in your hands and your ears.

As you move on to the next scale in this lesson, you’ll use the Minor Bebop Scale as the foundation for further adaptation. So, having a strong grasp on this fingering and scale is an important step in ensuring that you get the most out of the next sections in this lesson.

Dominant Bebop Scale

With the Minor Bebop Scale under your fingers you can move on to the V chord in the ii-V progression and learn the Dominant Bebop Scale in this position. Notice that you don’t have to move your hand on the neck to get this next scale under your fingers. It sits right above the Minor Bebop Scale on the fretboard.

The Dominant Bebop Scale is built by taking the Mixolydian Mode and adding in one extra note, the #7 interval. This produces an 8-note scale, just like the Minor Bebop Scale, except it’s used to solo over 7th chords.

Once you have the fingering down in the example below, put on a G7 backing track and solo over that chord with this scale. Then, take it to the other 11 keys to see how it sits in different areas of the neck.

If you are feeling confident with these two scales at this point, you can put on a ii-V backing track, maybe starting with 4-bars per chord, and improvise over each chord using the appropriate scale. For Dm7 you would solo for four bars using the D Minor Bebop scale, then switch over to four bars of the G Dominant Bebop Scale over G7.

Once you have a handle on the four-bar phrases, you can shrink it down to two-bars per chord, then one-bar per chord and finally if you’re feeling adventurous, two-beats per chord. The goal is to be able to use each scale to improvise over the appropriate chord in a progression, helping you to inject the Bebop Scale sound into your playing, while thinking about each chord as a separate entity at the same time.

The “Combined” Bebop Scale

One of the cool things I discovered when I was first studying these scales is that not only can you apply them separately to each chord in a ii-V, but you can use them together over both of these chords with a “Combined” Bebop Scale.

When doing so, the passing notes from each individual scale create a new tension over the other chord in the progression, which you can see here as a reference.

Key of C

Dm7 = C# (#7) and F# (M3)
G7 = C# (b5 Blues Note) and F# (#7)

Like any chromatic note, you probably don’t want to sit on these passing notes in your lines. It’s cool to start an idea on these notes, or to inject them into the middle of a line, but unless you’re looking to create a high-level of tension in your solo, it’s probably not a great idea to end a line on one of these notes, or pause on them for a long time in your playing.

Once you have this fingering down, I added the A B C on the top string to fill out the fingering in this position, put on a Dm7-G7 backing track and solo over both chords using this scale. This gives you an added layer of melodic material to choose from over these chords, on top of the individual scales addressed earlier.

Accompanying Video Lesson

Check out the video lesson below to see this scale explained in detail, hear it played on the guitar and check out this great sounding scale in action in an improvised solo.

Did you check this “combined” bebop scale out in the practice room? What are your thoughts on this 9-note scale?

Video: Jeff Loomis "The Ultimatum" Lead Guitar Lesson

Josh Hart — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:23:51 +0000

Last month, shredder extraordinaire Jeff Loomis released his sophomore solo album, Plains of Oblivion, a record that had surprisingly strong chart presence for a mostly instrumental shred record.

The former Nevermore guitarist was nice enough to shoot some video lessons of key passages off the new album, and in the first one — which can be seen below — he shows you the opening arpeggio to "The Ultimatum."

Next time, we'll take a look at the rhythm track for "The Ultimatum," so get those pick hands ready!

Plains of Oblivion is out now on Century Media Records.

Talkin' Blues: New Orleans, Part 2

Keith Wyatt — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:41:28 +0000

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Last month, we analyzed the densely layered rhythmic blend of tresillo, backbeat and triplets that powered many classic New Orleans-based R&B hits. This month, we'll look at the city's unique spin on one of the fundamental grooves of humanity itself: the two-beat.

Part 1

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Part 2

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Part 3

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

The following content is related to the June 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Part 4

Lesson Contents
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

12 Tones To Glory: Utilizing the Chromatic Scale

John Petrucci — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:05:03 +0000

This lesson originally appeared in the magazine as part of John Petrucci's "Wild Stringdom" column.

Before Dream Theater took off I used to teach a lot, and one of the things my students often asked me was how to apply the chromatic scale to practical playing situations. You see, their other teachers would give them chromatic warm-up exercises without providing any explanation of how important and versatile this scale actually is. For the next few months, I'd like to show you how to use the chromatic scale, not just as a tool to build chops but as a melodic device to add color to your playing.

FIGURE 1 shows the chromatic scale in the 1st position, beginning on F. Since the chromatic scale is built on consecutive half-step intervals (and therefore contains all 12 tones used in Western music), it has no true tonal center. This means that, used judiciously, it can fit over any chord.

Before you can apply chromatic ideas to scales and arpeggios, you have to get the chromatic scale itself under your fingers. You should learn it up and down the neck, and become comfortable with the fingerings. Here are a couple of chromatic exercises that will build up your technique and get you moving all over the fingerboard. Once you master the technique, applying it will be a lot easier.

FIGURE 2 is a good chops-building exercise. It doesn't contain all the notes of a -chromatic scale (not every half-step is included), but it has enough chromatic elements to get you started. Practice this exercise with a metronome, using alternate picking. Start at a slow tempo (60 beats per minute) and gradually increase the speed. Since the notes fall in groups of four, you can accent the first note of each string or, as I do, of each measure. I do this because it helps me solidify the time; as a result, my speed and precision improve.

Once you get Figure 2 down, try tackling FIGURE 3. This exercise is great because it gets you thinking laterally along the neck — an invaluable approach to breaking away from position playing. (Haven't you been wanting to go beyond those pentatonic boxes for a while now?) Here's the deal: first, start on F# on the low E string and play four chromatic notes up; shift up a half step (one fret) with your pinky (you're now in the 3rd position) and play four chromatic notes down; then shift up a half step (to the 4th position) with your index finger and play four chromatic notes up again. That's the pattern. Then, keeping your hand in the 4th position, jump over to the A string and start all over again. By the time you finish the pattern on the high E string, you'll be in the 14th position!

FIGURE 3a is just Figure 3 played in reverse, descending to the 2nd position. Follow the left-hand fingerings indicated beneath the tablature and you shouldn't have a problem. Both figures sound good over F#m, but they can work over any chord. Experiment.

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