Pentatonic Scale Part 2- Major Pentatonic

In this article I will teach you about the major pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic scale has the same box shapes as the minor pentatonic scale, the only difference in the diagram is the root note but this makes all the difference. Although the patterns are the same when you learn them you will realise they are almost part of two different worlds and you will need to get into this way of thinking to be comfortable soloing as each world (major or minor) has it's own set of scales. If you try and solo with a minor pentatonic scale over a major chord it will almost certainly sound rubbish. Below I have given you the five box diagrams for the major pentatonic scale, just like in part 1 R= root.

E- |--|0-|--|0-|   
B- |--|0-|--|0-|      
G- |0-|--|--|R-|
D- |0-|--|--|0-|
A- |--|R-|--|0-|
E- |--|0-|--|0-|                             

E- |0-|--|--|R-|
B- |0-|--|--|0-|
G- |R-|--|0-|--|
D- |0-|--|0-|--|
A- |0-|--|0-|--|
E- |0-|--|--|R-|                                

E- |--|R-|--|0-|
B- |--|0-|--|0-|
G- |0-|--|0-|--|
D- |0-|--|--|R-|
A- |0-|--|--|0-|
E- |--|R-|--|0-|                               

E- |--|0-|--|0-|--|
B- |--|0-|--|--|R-|
G- |0-|--|--|0-|--|
D- |--|R-|--|0-|--|
A- |--|0-|--|0-|--|
E- |--|0-|--|0-|--|

E- |0-|--|--|0-|
B- |--|R-|--|0-|
G- |0-|--|0-|--|
D- |0-|--|0-|--|
A- |0-|--|--|R-|
E- |0-|--|--|0-|

The sound of the major pentatonic scale sounds a lot happier and brighter than the minor equivalent. The first step to soloing effortlessly over the fretboard is to learn all scale patterns for both major and minor pentatonic scales. In upcoming lessons I will show you some pentatonic licks.

Good luck practicing!!

When you play live do you get stage fright?

We have all been there, right before going on stage you are riddled with nerves. What do you do? Some people might pull out of the gig completely but then your reputation would be ruined. The majority of people would continue to play the gig but their performance would definately be affected . This is definately a common problem as you obviously want a good reputation for your band. In this article I am going to give you some advice that will help with this problem and I will also share some of my personal experiences.

Before your gig you need to make sure you have all your material learnt perfectly because if you can't play without making a mistake in rehearsal then how do you think you will play when fifty people are watching your every move? Also if you are about to play a gig and you know you aren't ready this will definately make you more nervous, if you go into a gig thinking you will make a mistake then you probably will. It's true what they say, the best defence is a good offence so make sure you know everything inside out.

Before you go onstage to play your piece just remember why you are doing this. You love music, music is your life and your dream is to make a living from it. This will give you some perspective and will help you feel the music and go with the flow, if you feel the music then your nerves will go away as you will be reminded of why you got into playing music in the first place.

If you do end up making a mistake because of nerves it's not the end of the world. I have experiences of this, once at a gig with the last song we were playing my mind went completely blank even though we had been playing that particular song for the last few months, I wasn't too happy for the next wee while and it gave me the motivation to work my ass off and by the next gig we had we definately made people forget about the disaster beforehand.

Many people say imagine the audience naked and that will make you less nervous, personally I've never tried it and I'm not sure if it would work for me, I might lose concentration and make a mistake lol.
The main thing to remember is if you get nervous playing gigs and even after you followed my advice above you are still nervous it's perfectly normal and the more gigs you do the more comfortable you will get playing infront of large crowds.

Have fun playing!!

Teaching yourself vs. guitar lessons

Is it better to teach youself how to play the guitar or should you have guitar lessons? There seems to be some kind of rivalry between people who teach themselves and people who get lessons and I am going to discuss this issue.  I would have to say that it is a very personal decision  whether you take lessons or not and it very much depends on what type of person you are. There are many advantages and diadvantages to both which I will also discuss.
If you plan on teaching yourself guitar to make progress you will have to discipline yourself and work very hard, I'm not saying that you don't have to work hard if you take guitar lessons it's just that if you teach yourself you don't have the motivation that you have another guitar lesson in three days so it's quite easy to lose focus, it's also good to have some guidance sometimes.

Obviously an advantage when teaching yourself is that you don't have to spend any money on lessons and this is one of the main reasons why people don't take guitar lessons, me included. I would love to have the money and time for lessons because I'm sure it would improve my playing but the fact is I don't but I don't let that stop my progress. As long as you have ambition and you clearly set out your aims and goals you can reach them as long as you put in the effort.
If you can't afford guitar lessons there are plenty of online resources and lessons out there including this blog, (I will be adding new lessons every week and if you have any suggestions just drop me a comment as all comments are very welcome, positive or negative.)

Another advantage from teaching yourself is that you can learn at your own speed and teach yourself what you want and what interests you which in turn helps you keep motivated, although if you are serious about being an all-round good musician then most things will interest you anyway.

A tip for any guitarist who is teaching themselves is to make the most of any practice opportunity you have. Don't just practice the same three songs you have been playing for the last 6 months, learn a new scale or a new lick or technique and you will make much more progress and make sure you use a metronome when practicing to keep your timing on top form.

Ultimately whether you teach yourself or are getting lessons as long as you work hard and keep motivated then you will succeed in any goals you set and make real progress as a guitarist. I don't think there should be a rivalry between guitarists who choose lessons and guitarists who choose to teach themselves, we all have the same goals and instead of hindering each other we should be supporting each other and helping each other. With knowledge comes responsibility and if you can help another guitarist with an aspect of their playing then go for it.


Good luck!!

How to improve timing when playing guitar!!

Timing is very important when playing guitar as it is when playing any instrument. When we play guitar our aim is to keep our playing in time with the underlying pulse. If you've ever recorded in a studio you will know it reveals all your timing faults, if not the best idea is obviously to get your timing down before entering the studio environment. But how do you improve on this crucial skill? There are a few ways to improve on your timing and that's what I'm going to talk about.

When I started playing guitar the main way I learnt songs was to play along to a cd, this did help me with my timing and I would suggest total beginners start with this method as it will help with your timing and also with your general guitar playing as you will be playing over the guitar on the cd.

Another way to improve your timing is to use a metronome. This is one of the most effective ways to improve your timing as you are keeping time with a click, the main thing to remember when using a metronome is to start off slow and gradually work your way up. This is because your playing will ultimately be sloppy if you rush and don't start slow. Get into the habit of always using a metronome when playing as you will notice in as little as a couple of weeks how much better your timing is getting. The trick is to start slow, although the speed you begin at will ultimately depend on the piece you are learning. Using a metronome is also very important when it comes to learning how to shred and soloing because if you ever want to play that fast and not sloppy then you will have to solw everything down to a level you can work at and work your speed up.

In my opinion the most fun way of improving your timing is playing in a band with other musicians. This not only improves your timing but is also the first step in getting yourself ready for gigging. There's a big difference between playing along to a metronome and playing with various members of a band and only playing with a band can give you the experience you need to make it in this industry.

I would recommend to use all these methods where appropriate as they will all help your timing in one way or another and will all help you in achieving your aim of perfect timing effortlessly and feeling the pulse of the music.

Happy playing everybody!!

Want tips on learning the Pentatonic Scale?? Part 1

When learning to play the guitar the first scale everyone learns is the Pentatonic Scale, there are many reasons for this, firstly the Pentatonic Scale is relatively easy to get relatively comfortable with compared to many other scales as there are less notes which means it's a lot easier for beginners. Another reason for it being popular is that the Pentatonic scale is so adaptable and can be used in most musical situations, everything from blues and country to rock and heavy metal, it sounds good slow and emotional but also sounds great in a shred situation. The other main reason why so many guitarists love this scale is the primal raw nature given to it with the absence of of the 2nd and 6th scale degrees which I will talk about in a second, this gives it a certain rawness that makes it perfect for blues especially.

 The Pentatonic Scale has five notes ("Penta" meaning five) as the 2nd and 6th scale degrees are absent compared to the Heptatonic Scale which has seven notes.

I think advice I can give you in learning the pentatonic scale is to learn all five box positions so that you know them inside out. When I first did this it really helped me out but I still struggled a bit with my lead guitar, if this happens to you another tip is learning all the scales on each string as this will help you be able to solo effortlessly around the fretboard.
Below are tab diagrams of the Minor Pentatonic box positions, to pick change scale just move scale up neck until the root is the note of the scale you want. Key- R= Root

E- |--|0-|--|R-|   
B- |--|0-|--|0-|      
G- |R-|--|--|0-|
D- |0-|--|--|0-|
A- |--|0-|--|0-|
E- |--|0-|--|R-|                             

E- |R-|--|--|0-|
B- |0-|--|--|0-|
G- |0-|--|0-|--|
D- |0-|--|R-|--|
A- |0-|--|0-|--|
E- |R-|--|--|0-|                                

E- |--|0-|--|0-|
B- |--|0-|--|R-|
G- |0-|--|0-|--|
D- |R-|--|--|0-|
A- |0-|--|--|0-|
E- |--|0-|--|0-|                               

E- |--|0-|--|0-|--|
B- |--|R-|--|--|0-|
G- |0-|--|--|0-|--|
D- |--|0-|--|0-|--|
A- |--|0-|--|R-|--|
E- |--|0-|--|0-|--|

E- |0-|--|--|0-|
B- |--|0-|--|0-|
G- |0-|--|R-|--|
D- |0-|--|0-|--|
A- |R-|--|--|0-|
E- |0-|--|--|0-|

Another piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you know where all your root notes are in each box pattern as this will help greatly when you start soloing and is very important to your playing. They say practice makes perfect but what they should say is perfect practice makes perfect, so make sure when practicing that you are getting it right, if you have any questions regarding anything just drop me a comment.
Part 2 of pentatonics will be up in the near future, have fun playing guitar!!

5 Top Benefits from playing the guitar!!

There are many advantages to starting your musical journey and learning how to play an instrument. I have been playing guitar for the last six years and there has been countless benefits ranging from my personal life to my job, the advantages I am going to list here are ones I have discovered in my own life.

1. It opens up a whole new world to you, what I mean is, all your favourite songs that you used to listen to, you can now learn on guitar and appreciate them on a whole new level. When you listen to songs you will appreciate them on a whole new level also as you will have the perspective of a musician.

2. You will gain more confidence. Before I started playing guitar I was far from the most confident person in the world but after I started playing I had a skill I was proud of and I became a lot more confident in general. Another way playing an instrument can help your confidence is if you eventually play in a band as you will have to withstand your bandmates' judgement of your ability and when you play your first few gigs you won't be nervous about anything ever again. My theory is if your nervous about something, the more you do it the more confident you will get.

3. Stress relief. Let's face it, sometimes life just throws a curveball at you or maybe you just have a bad day once in a while but wouldn't it be great if you had a way of relieving that stress? Since I started playing guitar I've discovered nothing gets you over the blues better than cranking an amp up full and letting her roar! There's nothing more satisfying or stress relieving than playing through a few simple songs and I guarantee if you are in a bad mood it will certainly calm you down and help to relax you. I'm not sure what it is but playing guitar just seems to put everything into perspective for me.

4. Community. A big advantage of playing the guitar is that you will be part of the international community of guitarists. Whether it is in your local youth group, an online forum or in a guitar shop you will be surrounded by people who have similiar interests to yourself almost like a family. It enters you into the more general community of musicians, from drummers to bassists and this is very important especially if you plan on getting a band together. Feeling part of a community is very important when playing an instrument in many ways including: selling and buying equipment to trying to recruit members for your band.

5. The obvious. The obvious advantage of playing an guitar is that will be officially badass, all your idols who play guitar are badass so obviously guitar=badass and the ladies sure love a badass, also if you play guitar there's always a chance that you might beome rich and famous some day and again the ladies love the rich and famous.

Peace out!!