The Mixolydian Mode

November 28, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials dominant, guitar, mixolydian, mode, music, theory

Mixolydian is the fifth mode of the Major Scale. It's often referred to as the Dominant Scale, because it is built upon the 5th degree of the major scale. That’s also where we get the name for Dominant chords, which are a major triad with a flattened 7. And that’s all there is to it, if we take … Continue reading The Mixolydian Mode

The Lydian Mode

November 28, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials guitar, lydian, mode, music, theory

Welcome back to the modes, today we’re focusing on Lydian, the fourth mode of the Major scale. Lydian is essentially a major scale so we’ll start off with that formula, this time in F. R 2 3 4 5 6 7 F G A Bb … Continue reading The Lydian Mode

The Phrygian Mode

November 28, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials flamenco, guitar, mode, music, phrygian, theory

Today we’re looking at the 3rd mode of the Major Scale - the Phrygian Mode. Phrygian is a minor scale, so lets start with that formula. Here’s E Minor R 2 m3 4 5 m6 m7 E F# G A B C D The … Continue reading The Phrygian Mode

The Dorian Mode

November 28, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials 6th, Dorian, guitar, minor, mode, music, scale, theory

In this lesson I’m going to go over the 2nd mode of the Major Scale: The Dorian Mode. The Dorian mode most closely resembles the Natural Minor Scale, so we’ll start with that, here is the D Natural Minor Scale. R 2 m3 4 5 m6 m7 D E … Continue reading The Dorian Mode

Standard Chord Progressions 1: Maj & Min I, IV, V Chord Patterns

October 18, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials 1 4 5, blues, bob dylan, chords, cool, cream, guitar, I, I IV V, IV, jimi hendrix, major, minor, music, pride & joy, rock, stevie ray vaughn, the kinks, theory, V

The I, IV, V chord pattern is a very common progression, and it is for that reason I will be focusing on it for several lessons. If you have an interest in blues, rock or jazz music, this will form the basis for many songs you will learn, (especially in the case of the blues). … Continue reading Standard Chord Progressions 1: Maj & Min I, IV, V Chord Patterns

Quartal Harmony

October 18, 2012May 21, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials chords, guitar, jazz, quartal harmony, rhythm

Here’s something that’s been fascinating me recently - Quartal Harmony. If you’re at all into jazz or fusion you may already be aware of this idea, if not you might like to use it to embellish chord progressions, or use them as a basis for some unique solos. As I’m still getting to grips with these ideas … Continue reading Quartal Harmony

Technique: String Bending

September 13, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, doug aldrich, guitar, guitar lessons, jimi hendrix, joe satriani, lead, music, slash, solo, steve vai, string bending

String bending is awesome. I won’t bore you, (rather, myself), with the physics of string bending, but the gist of it is when you make a guitar string tighter the pitch becomes higher, just like when you tune a guitar, or add a tighten-up a new string. This can be useful when you want to reach … Continue reading Technique: String Bending

Memorizing The Fretboard

August 14, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, flamenco, fretboard, guitar, guitar-based theory, jazz, memorizing, memory, metal, music, music theory, notes, rock, theory

(I've stolen an image from http://www.CortGuitars.com for this. So there.) These are some tips and tricks to help you memorize the fretboard. Memorizing the fretboard will help you to instinctively know where to go in order to voice different chords. The first step is to remember the order of the open strings, which is as follows, (from … Continue reading Memorizing The Fretboard

Hammer-Claw Finger-Picking Technique

August 7, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, claw, country, finger, finger-picking, guitar, hammer, hammer-claw, jazz, music, picking, rock, technique

Hammer-claw finger-picking is a technique used in country, jazz and sometimes blues music where the guitarist plays with their fingers rather than a pick. In this style your thumb is the “hammer” and your fingers are the “claw”. Your “hammer” is intended to play the bass strings, (E, A and sometimes D), and replicate the job … Continue reading Hammer-Claw Finger-Picking Technique

Example Song #3 – 7th Barre Chords in Gm

July 31, 2012May 30, 2015 LTGuitarist Music Tutorials awesome, blues, cambridge, guitar, jazz, learn, learn to play, learn to play awesome guitar, rock, strings, teach yourself, teacher, tutor

This track is intended as an exercise for students who have recently been introduced to 7 Barre Chords. Once they are familiar with the shapes this track is a good way of learning how they’re used in practice. You’re playing mainly 7 barre chords. The Basic 7 Barre Chords lesson will be a useful reference … Continue reading Example Song #3 – 7th Barre Chords in Gm