The “5 KNOWS” or “5Ks” for guitarists

In my opinion there are certain principles that every guitar player should consider tackling. Some are harder than others, and some take quite a bit of work to get proficient. However, in the end you will be glad you took the extra time to learn the principles outlined below as they will make you a better guitarist and a better musician. There are no real shortcuts here, it will be more work, and quite difficult at first, but in the end you will be a better musician if you take the time to nail these down. Go slowly at first and don’t overwhelm yourself – these are processes that take time. Set some goals…maybe learn a principle over a period of a few months or so. Set those musical goals…and go out and achieve them, and have fun in the process. I believe the following five principles are essential for the guitarist looking to move up to the next level. I call them the five Ks or five knows. Take stock in your playing and see if you are deficient in one or more of these areas and then really work hard on getting up to speed and getting these concepts down cold – you wont be sorry that you did as you will be a much better guitar player and musician.

1. Know the notes on the neck – there is just no way around this one. Guitar players want to strive to learn the notes on the neck cold. The problem with tablature and just learning shapes is that you don’t learn the notes that make up the chords, or the scales. You are just learning finger position, fret numbers, and shapes. You will always be a better musician and be able to better speak the language of music if you take the extra time to learn the notes that make up each chord, scale, and the notes on the fretboard. This will also allow you to grab a needed note quickly at any time. Try not to become too dependent on tablature. Tablature only tells you what fret number to play, it does not tell you the note that you are playing. Tablature is a fun way to learn songs if you don’t read music so certainly use it, but not exclusively. Along with tablature learn the notes on the neck and what notes and what intervals make up each chord. Knowing the notes on the neck is a huge undertaking, so make it a process which you learn them over a period of time. Don’t overwhelm yourself and try to get them all down in a week. Try to learn one string at a time. Then go to the next string. Utilize octaves to make the learning process a bit easier. Refer to the handout illustrating the notes on the fretboard and the 12-note scale. Take your time and you will have the whole neck down before you know it!

2. Know a large catalogue of chords – As a musician having a big vocabulary of chords is very important. Unless you want to be stuck playing A, D, and E all day long! Being able to play a lot of different chords proficiently is a difficult task, but so worthwhile. Knowing a good number of chords will open many doors and allow you to embellish and decorate your playing with all kinds of new musical melodies and rhythms, as well as an endless stream of song writing possibilities. Why play a stock, sterile, every day Am chord when you can play a much more interesting and harmonically rich Am7 chord, or Am9 chord. Embellishing chords is a great way to spark new ideas and new songs, and put life into some old songs. Add a rich sounding suspended fourth chord to the stock major chord….why not! Having a lot of chordal options when playing rhythm makes it fun and exciting not only for the guitarist but also more fun and interesting for the listener.

3. Know how to play solid rhythm – Knowing a large chord vocabulary is the first step. Next is being able to play solid rhythm with good timing when utilizing the chords. Music is more than just notes and chords, it is also about rhythm and meter. In most band scenarios as a guitarist you will be playing rhythm 80% of the time. So the misinformed guitarist who thinks they can just concentrate on soloing and improvisation are in for a huge surprise first time they start playing with a band or jamming with someone else. Your lead playing will pretty much only ever be as good as your rhythm playing. Know how to strum well in many patterns using quarter, 8^thth notes as well as being able to switch chords in time and on the fly and eventually comp chords. Be able to make your own strum patterns and be able to arpegiate chords in time. Know how to embellish chords and how to add suspensions, and add chords as well as being able to embellish your strumming with chucking on both open and bar chords. It will add so much interest and richness to your playing. Know how to play good rhythm with good meter, its invaluable.

4. Know and analyze the chords you are playing over – For lead playing and improvisation the chords that you are playing over will provide the roadmap to what you can play solo wise. Just knowing the key signature of the song is not enough on its own. You want to know exactly what chords are in the progression and then analyze them to determine what scales, modes, and landing notes to utilize. In many instances you need to look at if there is a IV chord or V chord in a progression and are the chords major or minor. You need to know which notes make up the chords that you are playing over so you can use their respective chord tones as strong landing or emphasis notes. You will need to know the chords and their structure to fully understand and apply which mode you want to solo with. You want to lock in with the rest of the band and to do this you cant be in your own little world playing random notes but rather you need to understand and musically analyze the chords and the progressions that you are playing over.

5. Know the major scales cold – This is invaluable for the lead guitar player. Knowing your major scales will help give you the tools to quite a bit of lead playing and improvisation. Knowing when to utilize the scales and over which keys and chord changes is just as important as knowing the scales themselves. Knowing all the scales ever created will do you absolutely no good unless you know how to utilize them and when to apply them into your playing. Knowing the major scales up and down the neck in all keys will be the springboard to knowing the modes, relative major and minor, and many other important concepts. So learn those major scales in all keys!

*And as I always say, and will keep saying and repeating, one of the most important things that you can do to help move forward is to DEVELOP YOUR EAR!

INTRODUCTION TO UNDERSTANDING THE MODES OF THE MAJOR SCALE

Understanding and playing in the modes is a topic that I field a massive amount of questions. There is a general consensus in the guitar community that the modes are this real beast to understand, and they are out of the reach of most guitar players. That is not true and I suggest to you that you can be playing in the modes very quickly if you put all that negative talk and negative stigmas about the modes aside. YOU CAN DO IT and I will get you there. I teach the modes to students every day and get guitarists playing in them in an extremely fast manner. In fact you will amaze yourself how fast you will be able to play in the modes with just a little understanding of how they work and then practice at applying them. The way I teach them you have to know your major scales. We will get at all seven modes through the major scales. I teach six major scales and that will get you the whole neck – then we just play variations of those scales and you will be playing in the modes. Please see my other lessons for learning all your major scales and linking them together. You don’t have to learn a whole new set of six scales for Dorian, then six more scale shapes for Phrygian, then six more different scales for Lydian – I feel that is redundant and totally unnecessary. With the system I teach, once you learn the six major scales, you know all the modes of the major scale – because you will be using those same six major scales to play all the modes. So many teachers and methods make learning the modes so much more difficult and confusing than it has to be. That is why there is such a negative stigma about the modes. Well, I am here to tell you that will a little explanation and then application – you can do it – and you can do it fairly quickly. It will take some time to master and get used to, but every can guitar player can play in the modes if he sets the goal to tackle them.

Before we can examine each mode of the major scale we need to overview the modes in general so you can have a clear understanding of their structure and sequence. This is crucial to understanding them and making them work in your playing so don’t skim through these explanations. As stated in previous lessons, music theory is compared back to the major scale. The major scale is the standard that all is compared to, you have to have one scale to compare everything else to, or it will be chaos!. The major scale is a seven-note scale that everyone has heard before – doe, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, doe. For each of the seven individual notes of the major scale there is a different mode associated with it. So there are seven modes in every major key and these modes always appear in the same order. You want to memorize the order of the modes. Utilizing the modes gives the guitarist the ability to generate an interval structure that is different than that of the major scale and therefore produces a unique sound quality. So each mode has its own “mood”, or sound quality due to the different interval structure of each mode. Simply defined, a mode means that we start and stop on a note other than the root of the parent major scale – basically think of the modes as a variation or inversion of the major scale. I am going to teach you the modes through learning all your major scales. If you know all the major scales up and down the neck in the six positions I teach – then you know the modes – it just becomes a matter of how to apply them to your playing. So just think of the modes as variations of the major scale.

The major scale is also called the Ionian mode and the Aeolian mode is also called natural minor or pure minor. You may have heard these terms utilized before. The table below illustrates the order for the seven modes. This sequence of the modes is ALWAYS the same. No matter what key you are in the modes always follow the order listed below. Dorian is always the second mode of the major scale, Phrygian is always the third mode of the major scale, etc., etc., – the sequence is always the same, no matter what key you are in – so memorize it cold.

1^st mode – Ionian (same as the Major scale)

2^nd mode – Dorian (same as Aeolian but with a raised 6^th)

3^rd mode – Phrygian (same as Aeolian but with a b2nd)

4^th mode – Lydian (same as Ionian but with a #4^th)

<5^th mode – Mixolydian (same as Ionian but with a b7th)

6^th mode – Aeolian (same as the Natural Minor or Pure Minor scale)

7^th mode – Locrian (very dissonant, same as Phrygian but with a b5th)

For simplicity sake let’s examine the key of C major which has no sharps or flats. Looking at the modal sequence above, Dorian is the 2^nd mode of the major scale. In the key of C major if you start the scale on the 2^nd degree or 2^nd note of that C major scale, you will start on the D note. Then continue with the next seven notes of the major scale till the D octave and you have the D Dorian mode – you are playing that C major scale from the D to the D. The D Dorian mode is the second mode of the C major scale and utilizes all the exact same notes in C major scale but starting from the second degree, the D note. So you can play all the C major scales but start and emphasize the D notes, not the C notes. In D Dorian you want to establish the tonal center as D, so by emphasizing the D notes in a C major scale we arrive at a new scale sound that sounds different than C major because our ear hears the resolution to D – so it sounds more minor because the Dorian mode has a b3rd and b7th. Dorian is considered more of a minor mode, although you can use it in some major applications and I will teach you that in coming lessons. As you can see from the illustration below C major and D Dorian are constructed from exactly the same notes. Just take a C major scale and start and end on the D note.

Scale degrees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

C major scale C D E F G A B C D

2^nd mode – D Dorian D E F G A B C D

Continuing in the key of C major let’s examine the 3^rd mode of the major scale, Phrygian. Same construction as with Dorian we just start the mode on the 3^rd degree of the C major scale, the E note. So as you can see from the illustration below C major, D Dorian, and E Phrygian all are constructed from the same notes. C major = D Dorian = E Phrygian. The notes in each mode are the same but its all about EMPHASIS – which notes are you starting and emphasizing give you the different moods of the modes. Remember when you start or emphasize a major scale on any other of the notes except the root – you are playing in a mode. If you start and emphasize the 2^nd note you are playing in Dorian mode. If you start and emphasize the 5^th note you are playing in Mixolydian mode. If you start and emphasize the sixth note you are playing in Aeolian or the relative minor.

Scale degrees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

C major scale C D E F G A B C D E

2^nd mode – D Dorian D E F G A B C D E

3^rd mode – E Phrygian E F G A B C D E

Below are the seven modes listed in the key of C major. Keep following the same construction as illustrated above to get the note sequence for each mode. Notice in each mode below there are no sharps or flats, which is consistent with the key of C major. The Dorian mode begins on the 2^nd degree of the C major scale, the D note. The Phrygian mode begins on the 3^rd degree of the C major scale, the E note. The rest of the modes follow this same formula. Utilize this same formula to examine the modes in all keys and we can start learning how to apply these modes to your playing and using them in your lead playing and improvisation.

C major C D E F G A B C

D Dorian D E F G A B C D

E Phrygian E F G A B C D E

F Lydian F G A B C D E F

G Mixolydian G A B C D E F G

A Aeolian A B C D E F G A

B Locrian B C D E F G A B

We are first going to look at some very basic minor key examples, and be very structured about writing out the progression and the “rules” of application. There is a reason why certain notes and certain scales sound great over certain progressions and certain chord changes. Over time your ear will develop to the point where you wont have to write out the structure as we will do below – your ear will eventually guide you to all the right notes and you will be doing it on the fly. But that takes time and practice, so you have to work on it – what do I always say and will keep stating as I feel it is one of the most important things to do as a guitarist – DEVELOP YOUR EAR, this is one of the reasons why.

Before we move to other scales lets keep it basic and just look at when to utilize Minor Pentatonic, relative major scales, Aeolian mode, and the Dorian mode when soloing in a minor key. Remember that Aeolian mode is the same thing as Natural minor which is also the same as Pure minor – all three are the same thing. There are other scales and modes you can utilize, but for now lets just look at these.

Remember when you are soloing or improvising, you have two choices:

1. Play the same scales or mode over all the chords – that is called “what relates to all” – no matter what chord you are playing over you use the same thing over each chord – you are playing what works over ALL the changes.

OR YOU CAN

2. Treat each chord change like a separate event and solo with a different scale, mode, or arpeggio over each chord. So you are changing your scale, mode, and arpeggio with each chord change. This gives you a more sophisticated sound and is much harder to apply, takes a little work getting used to. We will work on this technique extensively in coming lesson modules.

So for this lesson we will work on the first choice – using the same scale, mode, or arpeggios over all the changes – playing what relates to all. Do this first to get good at analyzing the chords and playing a mode or modes over all the changes. Then we will move onto treating each chord like a separate event in coming modules.

Here is the big rule for when soloing over all the chords in a minor key progression or song:

When playing over all the chords in a minor key progression, as one option, you can pretty much always use the AEOLIAN mode, UNLESS the IV chord is major or the II chord is minor, then use the DORIAN mode.

That rule is absolutely critical and I strongly suggest that you burn that rule into your brain – you will be utilizing it all the time because so many jams, songs, and progressions are in minor key.

You want to add more weapons to your guitar arsenal in addition to minor pentatonic, so this rule is super important. When soloing in minor key, minor pentatonic and blues should be your default setting. In a minor key progression, (where the I chord is minor), you can always utilize Minor Pentatonic and Blues in that key. That are pretty much a given. If you have a song in G minor you can solo with G minor pent and blues. If you have a song in Am you can solo with A minor pent and blues, etc, etc. And in fact, depending on the chords, you may even be able to use three different minor pentatonic keys as discussed in a previous lesson. You can also add the 9^th, and the other passing tones as per our previous lessons on spicing up the minor pentatonic and blues scales. As long as you don’t hang on the passing tones and you bookend them with strong scalar notes.

If there is not a change to the II or IV chords, then Aeolian mode, or natural minor, is implied and you can utilize the Aeolian mode as well as the default setting of using minor pentatonic and blues scales. So remember if you are soloing over all the chords in a minor key, and there is a major IV or minor II chord somewhere in that progression, whether that chord comes up 2^nd, 4^th, or 10^th in the chord string – you don’t want to play Aeolian mode over that chord because you will hit a very out of key note – the b6. The reverse applies also, if you are soloing over all the chords and you have a IV minor chord come up 2^nd or 5^th or 10^th – and you are mistakenly using the Dorian mode, – then you will hit a very out of key note over that chord – the major 6^th.

EXAMPLE PROGRESSION 1: Dm to Gm – I minor to a IV minor change – (we are in the key of Dm)

1. use D minor pentatonic and blues scales (w/9^th and added passing tones) – that’s the default setting – since we are in the key of D minor we know that Dm pentatonic and blues will always work over all the chords.

2. use D Aeolian mode over both chords as it relates to all – after analyzing the progression we see it is a I minor changing to a IV minor. There is no IV major or II minor in this minor key progression so we can play D Aeolian mode over all the chords. D Aeolian is the same as F major – but you have to emphasize the D notes to sound minor. So play all the F major scales but remember to shift to the root of the mode, D, so emphasize the D notes and make that the tonal center.

3. land on the hip chord tones when the changes come up – draw out the notes in each chord if you don’t know them. Examine the notes in each chord of the progression to determine the hip landing notes when changing chords.

-D minor chord contains the chord tones D (root), F (b3rd), and A (5^th)

-G minor chord contains the chord tones G (root), Bb (b3rd), and D (5^th)

When changing to the Gm try landing on the G, Bb, or D notes to make a big solo statement. The next time around the progression at the change try landing on a different note – maybe first time try landing on the Bb note and then second time around try landing on the D note when the change goes to the Gm chord – listen to how strong those chord tones are and time to hit the note right when the chord changes. Then try landing on one of the Dm chord tones when changing to that chord. Landing on the root, b3rd, or 5^th really kills! Try it and really listen to the chord changes underneath so you can time you change exactly and make a bold solo statement

EXAMPLE PROGRESSION 2: Dm to G major – I minor to a IV major change. (we are in the key of Dm)

1.use D minor pentatonic and blues scales (w/9^th and added passing tones) – that’s the default setting – since we are in the key of D minor we know that Dm pentatonic and blues will always work over all the chords.

2.use D Dorian mode over both chords as it relates to all – after analyzing the progression we see it is a I minor changing to a IV major chord. There is a IV major chord in this minor progression so we can play D Dorian mode over all the chords. D Dorian is the same as C major – but you have to emphasize D notes to sound minor. So play all the C major scales but remember to shift to the root of the mode, D, so emphasize the D notes and make that the tonal center.

3. land on the hip chord tones when the changes come up.

-D minor chord contains the chord tones D-F-A

-G major chord contains the chord tones G-B-D

When changing to the G try landing on the G, B, or D notes to make a big solo statement – follow the guide above.

EXAMPLE PROGRESSION 3: Am7 to Bm7 – I minor to a II minor change. (we are in the key of Am)

– follow same rules as example progression 2 above because we have a I minor chord going to a II minor chord so we know to use the Dorian mode over all changes – it relates to all.

1. use A minor pentatonic and blues scales (w/9^th and added passing tones)

2. use A Dorian mode over both chords. A Dorian is the same as G major. So solo with all your G major scales but emphasize the root of the mode, A. Center that tonic around the A root

3. land on the hip chord tones when the changes come up.

-A minor 7^th chord contains the chord tones A-E-G-C

-B minor 7^th chord contains the chord tones B-F#-A-D

FINGER EXERCISES

Finger exercises are a very important element of a guitar players practice regimen. They can be utilized as warm up or cool down exercises when practicing or before live gigs. It is very important to get the blood flowing through the fingers when beginning practice or before a gig. Just like a sprinter warms up before a track event, a guitarist warms up before playing. When finger exercises are done properly, and consistently integrated into your practice regimen, they build strength, dexterity, picking accuracy, finger mobility and speed, tie both your hands together, get both hands working with machine like precision, and help clean up your playing. They also put a brain into each finger and get them working with precision. Some complain that these are boring, but the bottom line is that they work, and your playing with greatly benefit from them. So do them daily, cleanly, and with good technique.

The exercises listed below will increase in difficulty as you go down the list. Remember, Rome was not built in a day, so it will take some time to master each one. The most important element is at first to play each exercise slow, in time, clean, with no overtones, dinks, sloppiness, or missed notes. Play them slow at first to get your brain used to each individual finger pattern. Then slowly bring up the speed. When you are ready you can play to the click of a metronome to ensure that you are playing in time. Set the metronome at a comfortable speed. Then slowly bump up the speed of the metronome. I cannot emphasize enough, and you are probably getting sick of me stating this, but playing slow, clean, and in time is way better than fast and sloppy.

Be sure to watch the video lesson that coincides with this written lesson – the video lesson is in the intermediate section and titled, “Finger Exercises-improve your picking, finger strength, dexterity, speed, and clarity -13:28 minutes “

By working these exercises ten minutes daily you will find your picking accuracy, speed, finger strength and overall finger dexterity will increase dramatically. They can also be done while watching television, or waiting for something to download on your computer. Whenever you have a spare five minutes pick up the guitar and try and blast a few down the neck a couple of times each.

The finger pattern is the order of your fingers that you will be using during the entire exercise. As always with guitar – your index or pointer finger is 1, your middle finger is 2, your ring finger is 3, and your pinky finger is 4. Keep your fingers in that same exact pattern as you snake up and down the strings vertically for the entire fretboard – don’t change the pattern. Watch the video that goes along with this written lesson if you are not sure. Start each exercise on the low E string and play four notes per string with the given finger pattern. Then after the first four notes drop down to the next string – but always use the same pattern that you are currently working on. When you get to the last string then go to the next fret but stay in the pattern. Keep your fingers as close to the fretboard as possible. Do not let your fret hand come way off the fretboard and out of position – watch your pinky finger as many guitarists have trouble keeping that little guy close to the fretboard.

Utilize strict alternate picking – up, down, up, down, etc. For now, alternate picking with take you the furthest the fastest – so use it exclusively with these exercises. Remember to keep your thumb anchored on the back of the neck and not have it slide up and out of position. Continue with the finger pattern snaking up and down the fretboard vertically utilizing all six strings all the way until your first finger hits the 12^th fret on the low E string and then go back and immediately repeat the exercise 2-4 times each, if possible. When you get to the end of a given exercise it is important to repeat it, because it will build strength. Don’t stop after one run down the fretboard. To build strength the exercise must be played over and over again, multiple times. You will feel the burn the more you implement these exercises. If you feel big pain, stop, shake your hand out, give it a rest, and confirm that you are utilizing the proper technique. Then start again after a little rest period. The twelve sets of patterns below are listed in pairs. Practice each set every day for 2 weeks before moving on to the next set. Try to master one set before moving on the next set. Keep at it every day and watch as your playing soars to the next level!

FINGER PATTERNS

Set 1 – 1,2,3,4 and 4,3,2,1

Set 2 – 2,3,4,1 and 3,2,1,4

Set 3 – 1,4,3,2 and 4,1,2,3

Set 4 – 2,1,4,3 and 3,4,1,2

Set 5 – 1,2,4,3 and 4,3,1,2

Set 6 – 2,1,3,4 and 3,4,2,1

Set 7 – 1,3,4,2 and 4,2,1,3

Set 8 – 2,3,1,4 and 3,2,4,1

Set 9 – 1,4,2,3 and 4,1,3,2

Set 10 – 2,4,1,3 and 3,1,2,4

Set 11 – 1,3,2,4 and 4,2,3,1

Set 12 – 2,4,1,3 and 3,1,4,2