Introduction to scales and their uses. Understanding that scales are music’s language and therefore emphasising their importance.

Today we’ll learn 2 scales, C major and A minor natural.

Now we have our first full compliment of scales we’ll learn how to play them in time using the metronome, learning the importance of timing, tempo (speed) and increasing your playing tempo.

New chord sequences mixing up the major and minor chords and learning about chord families. We’ll introduce some new strumming patterns and i’ll encourage you to make up your own (improvisation).

Here, we’re going to extend the Am natural scale and the Em Pentatonic scale across all 6 strings and therefore across 2 Octaves. All future scales we’ll learn will now run through at least 2 Octaves. We add in an extra note to the Em Pentatonic to create a blues scale. I’ll demonstrate how the blues scale sounds and how it works.

I also explain the note progression up and down the fretboard using the 6th string as an example, how that relates to the other strings. I also include a map of the fretboard for reference.

Today I’ll teach Lonely Boy by The Black Keys. We’ll begin with the main opening riff demonstrating how it is made up of notes from the Em pentatonic scale.

I’ll then use the power chords we’ve learned in previous lessons in relation to the verses and choruses of the song, applying different strumming patterns as well.

We’ll also be practising current 2 octave scales with the metronome and how to always strive to increase and improve speed and timing. I’ll introduce the G major pentatonic scale, demonstrating how it is the same pattern as Em pentatonic and how they’re closely related.

To compliment the Black Keys song from last lesson I’ll teach the opening riff to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana, ideal for practising moving power chords from 6th to 5th strings. I’ll then introduce the 4th finger (pinky) onto the chord to create a 3 string power chord and show how much bolder this makes the sound for those confident enough to attempt it.

We’ll then learn the all important minor pentatonic scale at the 5th fret in the key of A (starting and finishing point, or root note). I explain how it is exactly the same as the open Em shape just moved up the fretboard with the 1st finger taking care of the open notes.

We’ll work more this lesson on the Nirvana riff. I’ll demonstrate the importance of strumming control on the correct strings.

We’ll also add the ‘blues’ notes into the Am pentatonic we learnt last lesson. I shall emphasise the step up in difficulty from the open scales and stress the importance of thumb position round the back of the neck to create a good finger span.

I’ll put the Dominant 7th chords in a sequence to practise in readiness for next lesson’s new song.

Today we’ll learn the 12 bar boogie prevalent in many rock and pop songs across multiple genres.

I’ll also show how this relates to the E ride we learned at the start of the course. We’ll learn the basic note sequence firstly, becoming familiar with how it sounds most importantly, in readiness to learn more detailed rhythms and picking patterns in the coming lessons. I’ll demonstrate how it can be progressed into quite complex and exciting variations.

Re-emphasising new scales, I’ll show how these can be moved into different keys whilst maintaining same shape.

To compliment the above we’ll begin “I Saw Her Standing There” by The Beatles using the Dominant 7th chords.

We’ll work some more on the alternate picking technique, and I’ll demonstrate timing using the metronome, and introduce with the blues scale. We’ll then work on this technique with the 12 bar boogie we learnt in lesson 15, explaining the importance of strictly adhering to the up and down motion.

I’ll then give an introduction to our next song ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ by Oasis, beginning to strum the chords in a generic swing pattern.

Today, we will look at the natural minor scale.

We will then look at the first half of the solo from ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ and look at how this solo has been written using the notes of this scale.

I will also explain how to use a new technique called vibrato to your single notes.

Here we finish ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ solo working on those string bends and showing the change of position on the guitar neck. I will also adapt the solo for acoustic players, focussing on sliding rather than bending the notes.

I’ll then provide an introduction to finger picking.

In this lesson I’ll give an introduction to improvising. Potentially the most fun one can have on a guitar. I’ll demonstrate using the now familiar Am pentatonic scale and we’ll begin by simply running up and down the scale along to a backing track, then you’ll cast off on your own to try some licks and melodies for yourself. We’ll aim to include some string bends learnt in previous lessons.

I’ll give a barre chord exercise here moving the chords into different positions and changing between major and minor.

We’ll develop some more improvising skills here and introduce the hammer on and pull off technique. I will show you a new extended pentatonic scale which is really useful for improvisation.

I’ll also introduce some finger picking techniques, particularly for the acoustic players but which can also be enjoyed on electric. I’ll explain once again the importance of timing with these techniques and how to count the picks as we do when strumming.

We’ll continue practice with the barre chords in preparation for next lesson’s new song.

In our final lesson, I’ll give a comprehensive all round masterclass on lead playing, rhythm playing and how to switch between the two techniques using a medium tempo 12 bar blues track in the key of E. We’ll work on improvising using the blues scales in the positions we’ve learnt them, i.e. open E blues and the blues scale at the 12 fret.

We’ll work on rhythms using both open chords and barre chords.

For our acoustic players I’ll complete Hey There Delilah by adding the passing bass notes that are common in this song, and conclude that everything is now covered and in place to go forward as a player.