Category: Guitar Theory

Major Scale Harmony and Chord Theory
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Learn how we come up with chords using the major scale! This is an important part of music theory and very applicable to composing and learning songs. Having the knowledge of Major Scale Harmony and chord theory can greatly improve your ability to learn songs by ear

The Notes
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This lesson covers some basic music theory and how to find the notes on the guitar.

The Major Scale – Building Blocks of Music
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This lesson covers the Major scale and some basic musical terms

Minor Scale
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This lesson introduces the Minor scale and how it relates to the Major Scale.

G7 and Use of the V Chord
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In this lesson we will cover the G7 open chord and how V chords function in the harmonic structure of a musical piece.

Connecting Major and Minor Scales
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This lesson covers Major and Relative minor scales and how to connect them. The theory behind it and application are also discussed.

More on Chord Progressions
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This lesson covers common chord progressions including I, IV, V and I, ii, V progressions.

Your First Chord Progression
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In this lesson you will learn a chord progression with the four chords you know thus far and how they relate to the key of G and the G Major scale.

Chord Theory and Charts
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This lesson covers chord charts, chords written in tabliture, and the roman numeral system for chords and how it relates to the Major scale.

Diminished Chords
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In this lesson we will cover diminished chords and how they function in harmonic structure. A few applications are presented.

Playing 3/4 Time
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In this lesson we will cover playing in 3/4 time and some different strumming patterns.

Chord Study in Key of G and C
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In this lesson we will examine the chords in the key of C and G and how they function in harmonic structure and how they relate to the Major scale.

Review of Relative Major and Minor Scales
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In this lesson we will be reviewing the relationship between Major and Minor scales and how we can connect them to move around the neck.

Transposing Licks
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In this lesson we will practice and learn how to transpose licks to different keys.

More Minor Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn and study minor triad inversions on 3, 4, and 5 strings.

More Major Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn and study Major triad inversions on 3, 4, and 5 strings.

Diminished Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn and study the inversions on the 2, 3, and 4 strings for a diminished triad.

Augmented Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn and study the inversions on the 2, 3, and 4 strings for an augmented triad.

Minor Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn and study the inversions on the 2, 3, and 4 strings for a minor triad.

Major Triad Inversions
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In this lesson we will learn what an inversion is and study the inversions on the 2, 3, and 4 strings for a major triad.

Triads
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In this lesson we will learn and define a triad and review the four basic types of triads. The four basic types of triads are Major, Minor, Augmented, and Diminished.

Applying the Circle of Fifths
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In this lesson we will explore some ways to use the Circle of Fifths with some chord progressions.

Circle of Fifths
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In this lesson we discuss the circle of fifths and what it means.

Relative Pentatonic Major and Minor
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In this lesson we will discover how Pentatonic Major and Minor are related and how we can use this relation to move around the neck and expand our lead vocabulary.

Transposing Licks and melodies
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In this lesson we will study some techniques for transposing licks and melodies.

Major Scale Harmony
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In this lesson we will talk about Major scale harmony in triads and sevenths. Major scale Harmony dictates what chords can be made using the degrees of the Major scale.

Transposition of music
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In this lesson we will learn about transposing music. Transposing is the shifting of a melody, a harmonic progression or an entire musical piece to another key, while maintaining the same tone structure.

Basic Songwriting Approach
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In this lesson we will cover some basic songwriting techniques using Major scale harmony.

Three Chord Progressions
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In this lesson we will study the most common among chord progression in pop music, the 3 chord progression. These progressions are used in nearly every genre and remain a staple in western music.

Two Chord Progressions
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In this lesson we will study the most basic chord progressions. The most basic chord progressions start with 2 chords.

Related the CAGED system to Modes
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In this lesson we will study how the CAGED system relates to the Mode fingerings.

The CAGED System
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In this lesson we will study the CAGED system, a method that organizes the fretboard into five zones using five familiar chord shapes. The patterns can be applied to chord shapes, scales, and arpeggios.

Mixolydian Mode Progressions
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In this lesson we will study a few Mixolydian Mode chord progressions, including Louie, Louie and Sweet Child O Mine.

Intro to Modal Harmony
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In this lesson we will discuss modal harmony. Modal harmony is the construction of chords and chord progressions within the different modes.

Four Chord Progressions
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In this lesson we will study some common four chord progressions including the 50’s progression.

Ragtime Changes
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In this lesson we will study some common chord changes from the early jazz style of Ragtime.

Minor Progressions
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In this lesson we will study some chord progressions based on Minor scale harmony. Some examples given are All Along the Watchtower and Thrill is Gone

Reading Lead Sheets for Jazz
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In this lesson we will take a look at 2 different types of lead sheets for the Jazz standard All Of Me.

Reading Leading Sheets 2
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In this lesson we will learn how to read a different kind of lead sheet. We will use the song Take it Easy as an example

Reading Lead Sheets
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In this lesson we will be taking a look at how to read a lead sheet. We will use the song Desperado by the Eagles as an example.

Reading Tab Symbols Part 1
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In this lesson we will cover the symbols used in tab to notate certain articulations such as bends and slides.

Reading Tab Symbols Part 2
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In this lesson we will study more tab symbols, what they mean, and how to play them.

Keys and Chords
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In this lesson we will discuss keys and the meaning of the term. We will also demonstrate how keys can be used to determine chords that sound good together.

Modal Interchange
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Learn the difference between a key change and a modal interchange in this theory lesson. We will take a look at 2 songs that use modal interchange.

Making Common Chord Progressions Unique
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In this lesson we are going to learn how to take a very common chord progression and make it more interesting. By using strumming, arpeggios, and articulations we can make a stock chord progression into a unique guitar part. Try to come up with a simple 3 or 4 chord progression and create your own unique part.

How To Find The Mode of A Song
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Songs can be written in different modes other than the Major Scale.  For example, Mixolydian is a common mode used to write and compose Rock N Roll tunes and Dorian is common in Latin music.  In this lesson we will study and learn how to find the mode a song may have been written in.  This can help us determine the chords used and how to improvise over those chords.