Amit Les Paul

I've been blogging for 10 months now and found one major problem with the guitarist who are intermediate . Intermediate guitarist are the ones who know every possible chord and can play every song but the problem is that they don't know the theory which backs up the chords , the solo and the song . So this is a simple tutorial for the guitarist who are stuck and bored by playing one or two songs over and over on the same chords .

If you want to learn how to solo and improvise in blues and rock you must know the 5 pentatonic scale shapes . Guitarists usually start with one of the patterns of the pentatonics and then don't go further . I recommend to thorough 5 patterns in your mind and practice them over and over building speed .

Major and Minor Pentatonic Scale 
There may be two types of the pentatonic scale but you just have to learn the same pattern to learn them , they're just played in different locations on the fretboard. This can be tricky to understand at first, but will become clear with practice.

One string Pentatonic ( Major & Minor )
To learn the whole pattern you first have to understand the pentatonic scale on one string . 
Here is the example of Minor Pentatonic Scale on one string :


This is just a pattern you have to follow suppose you want to play A minor pentatonic then just take the A note on the fret board at 5th fret low E string and follow above pattern . 
Here is an example of A minor pentatonic on one string :
e:-----------------------------|
B:-----------------------------|
G:-----------------------------|
D:-----------------------------|
A:-----------------------------|
E:-5--8--10--12--15--17--------|

The same thing is with the major pentatonic scale but the only difference is that the major pentatonic scale starts from the second note of minor pentatonic and then follows same pattern .
Here is the example of Major Pentatonic Scale on one string :


So for playing A major pentatonic the pattern is as above starting from 5th fret .
Here is the example of A major pentatonic on one string :

e:-----------------------------|
B:-----------------------------|
G:-----------------------------|
D:-----------------------------|
A:-----------------------------|
E:-5--7--9--12--14--17---------|

The 5 Pentatonic Scale Shapes (with roots) :
Now that we have learned major and minor pentatonic one string here are the five pentatonic patterns :

Here is an example in the key of A to help you practice :

PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #1:
e:------------------------5-8-5-----------------------------------------|
B:--------------------5-8-------8-5-------------------------------------|
G:---------------5-7----------------7-5---------------------------------|
D:----------5-7-------------------------7-5-----------------------------|
A:-----5-7----------------------------------7-5-------------------------|
E:-5-8------------------------------------------8-5---------------------|
PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #2:
e:----------------------------8-10-8------------------------------------|
B:----------------------8-10----------10-8------------------------------|
G:-----------------7-9---------------------9-7--------------------------|
D:------------7-10------------------------------10-7--------------------|
A:------7-10-----------------------------------------10-7---------------|
E:-8-10----------------------------------------------------10-8---------|
PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #3:
e:------------------------------10-12-10--------------------------------|
B:------------------------10-13----------13-10--------------------------|
G:-------------------9-12----------------------12-9---------------------|
D:-------------10-12--------------------------------12-10---------------|
A:-------10-12--------------------------------------------12-10---------|
E:-10-12--------------------------------------------------------12-10---|
PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #4:
e:-------------------------------12-15-12-------------------------------|
B:-------------------------13-15----------15-13-------------------------|
G:-------------------12-14----------------------14-12-------------------|
D:-------------12-14----------------------------------14-12-------------|
A:-------12-15----------------------------------------------15-12-------|
E:-12-15----------------------------------------------------------15-12-|
PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #5:
e:-------------------------------15-17-15-------------------------------|
B:-------------------------15-17----------17-15-------------------------|
G:-------------------14-17----------------------17-14-------------------|
D:-------------14-17----------------------------------17-14-------------|
A:-------15-17----------------------------------------------17-15-------|
E:-15-17----------------------------------------------------------17-15-|
PENTATONIC SCALE SHAPE #5:
e:------------------------3-5-3-----------------------------------------|
B:--------------------3-5-------5-3-------------------------------------|
G:---------------2-5----------------5-2---------------------------------|
D:----------2-5-------------------------5-2-----------------------------|
A:-----3-5----------------------------------5-3-------------------------|
E:-3-5------------------------------------------5-3---------------------|

Few Tips for Understanding :
The major and minor follow same pattern as i said earlier so if you are learning the first pattern above and playing in the key of A , then the the pentatonic scale is A minor . To play A major pentatonic with the same pattern move the whole pattern up two frets making the first note of the A minor second note of A major .
Here's an example to understand this clearly :
A minor pentatonic :
e:------------------------5-8-5-----------------------------------------|
B:--------------------5-8-------8-5-------------------------------------|
G:---------------5-7----------------7-5---------------------------------|
D:----------5-7-------------------------7-5-----------------------------|
A:-----5-7----------------------------------7-5-------------------------|
E:-5-8------------------------------------------8-5---------------------| 


A major pentatonic :

e:------------------------2-5-2-----------------------------------------|
B:--------------------2-5-------5-2-------------------------------------|
G:---------------2-4----------------4-2---------------------------------|
D:----------2-4-------------------------4-2-----------------------------|
A:-----2-4----------------------------------4-2-------------------------|
E:-2-5-----------------------------------------5-2----------------------| 



Thats all for this post . Feel free to comment if you have any query or suggestion's .

Thanks
Amit Kothiyal

As a musician we all have difficulty when to keep up with the songs which are too high for our notes . If you are a guitarist you should just accept that not every guitarist has a great voice but that doesn't mean he/she can't sing . For some people it is difficult to reach high notes , some may find lower notes as difficult points too.But everyone has that perfect scale in which we feel comfortable.So, Here's a very good way to transpose a song too different scale to match your voice .

After transposing a song to a different scale the song will be perfect for your voice but it may not sound like the original , that way you may have to use good vocals to impress yourself or someone.

Step 1: Know Your Comfort Zone

This is a key chord chart, it can help you figure out scale of the song . All you need to do is see in which key all the chords of the song comes .

For Example : Somebody's Me (from Enrique) has chords G,C,D,Am ...... Now if you look at the chart it all comes down to one key that is G major . So the song is in G major .

Step 3:Transpose a SongNow comes the important part to transpose the scale of a song. To do this first find out the scale of song as above .Then choose the corresponding chords in same column in the key you want. 

For Example :
If you choose a song with chord progression C , Am , F , G   . Then the song is in C major key . Say, we want to transpose it to G major scale then look for corresponding chords like :
G will replace C .
Em will replace Am.
C will replace F.
D will replace G.
And so on .....

So now the song has a progression G, Em,C,D .

Guess that was pretty easy !!! . Thanks for reading . You can also check out many more Advanced Guitar Tutorials Here . Feel free to comment if you have any problem or need help .

Thanks ,
Amit Kothiyal

The open chords are a delight to use and sound beautiful when used correctly . Some of the guitarists may argue that barre chord sound's more right but this actually depends on the feel of the song . At some point barre chords sound too warm and heavy but if you're playing a song on a cheerful note then you need something that sound's gentle , cool and happy . The open chords provide all the qualities which a song with special feel needs . 


Chord Construction
Before continuing towards chord construction I would recommend that if you don't know about the fret board notes then refer to my earlier post : Memorize Your Guitar Fret Board & Basic Music Theory  . I'm giving a complete fret board with all notes here for a reference and reminder of the earlier post .

Complete Fret Board with all notes

If you know where all the notes reside on the fret board then its half way towards construction of a chord . Here's how every chord is made on your fret board :

Step 1 : Chord Formula
Every chord that is designed to be played has a formula . This formula can be said similar to the one's we find in our science books but the major difference is that here we have roman numerals instead of elements of the formula . Here's a chart for the formula for every chord like major , minor , diminished etc .

Chord Formulas : (b=flat , #=sharp)

You don't need to learn this whole chart but this will be helpful when your finding some chord on the fret board .


Step 2 : Scale Note & Degree 
This is a chart for the scale notation for every note from I to I(octave) . Here also you don't need to understand the chart to make chords it's just a reference for Step 3 .

Scale Note and Degree Chart

Step 3 : Finally, how to make the chord ?
In this step we will use the charts from step 1 and 2 two make a chord . So , Here's what you need to do 

• From the Formula chart find which type of chord you are looking for ( like major , minor , minor 6 etc ) .
• Now remember the formula ( the roman numerals ) for the chord you are looking for .
• Go to the second chart now and find the chord then write down the corresponding note according to the formula . 

Here's an example how to do this : 

• Say we choose G major chord to start with so the formula for major is I-III-V.
• Now we go to the scale chart and find G scale . Then according to the formula on G scale at I-III-V the note are G-B-D .

Now you just have to find combination of these three notes on the fret board and the chord will always be called G major .
Here's an example of simple G major which we use :


As you can see above that when we construct the chords the only notes that come in the chord are G-B-D .




Exploring Open Chords 
After you know the theory to construction of a chord it's time for you to have some fun exploring your guitar's neck for alternative of the open or barred chords . 
Say, If we take E major chord the formula corresponds E-G#-B and the various formation across fret board are :

• 001220
• 4542xx
• 799970
• 12 12 13 14 14 12
• 45467x
• 12 9 9 9 11 12

To know how to read guitar chords refer to :

How to read the chords and tabs on the blog?

You can still find many shapes by tuning the guitar to a specific tuning . The whole theory remains the same all the time . So best of luck finding the correct sound for your songs . Experiment a little and you may come up with your own brand new chord . If you were unable to understand anything please comment that is always appreciative .


Thanks,
Amit Les Paul 

Yeah that's right every barre chord has been derived like a formula from a theory of music . And these chords are sewn on your fret board such that you can find each and every barre chord very easily .


For those of you who know some barre chord this article will be a deep study of barre chords . But the beginners can also start their journey into the world of barre chord from here . So without wasting anymore time . 



Basic Music Theory

The visitors who are following my blog may have read my previous article Memorize Your Guitar Fret Board & Basic Music Theory. So I'll be really quick on this this time cause we probably gonna need this theory in our barre chord campaign .

'A' Barre Chord 

Learning the fretboard is like the most important thing an advance guitarist should do , It makes you understand the bigger side of the music theory over your entire fretboard. And knowing all the notes on the fingerboard will help you to open a whole new world.


When learning the fretboard I must tell you that its not for the total beginners . This is for the one's who have learned almost every barre chord and know where to play them or you must know atleast two or three barre chords to start with.


For those of who, who does'nt have any idea about barre chords i'll soon be writing an article for that and will also give reference here.


So let's start with the most basic thing .....

Basic Music Theory

As Im writing this article for most of the indian viewers i would probably rely on the indian style teaching this thing i.e. by giving the seven music notes.


In music we have 7 natural notes : Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa
If we see this in english the 7 notes are : A B C D E F G A


Within these natural notes there are sharp notes:
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G
OR flat notes :
A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G


Yeah , I know its going above your head . So let me take simple definitions to show whats sharp and flat.


When you raise a natural note , for example: A by half step(1 fret) it becomes a sharp note: A#


When you lower a natural note, for example B by a half step (1 fret) it becomes a flat note: Bb


This applies to all of the natural notes except for B & C and E & F.
There are no sharps or flats between B & C and E & F.


In other words if you raise a E by a half step it becomes F (and not E#). If you lower a F by a half step it becomes a E (and not Fb). The same applies to B & C.


Example 1: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A


Example 2: A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A


As you can see A# and Bb are the same notes
as well as:
C# and Db,
D# and Eb,
F# and Gb,
G# and Ab.


So the natural notes follow the alphabet from A to G.
After that it starts all over again: A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C… etc.
Natural, sharp and flat notes: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C D D# E F F# G G# A A#… etc.

Now let’s take a look at the notes on the fingerboard:

    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11   12   13   
e:|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|
B:|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|
G:|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|
D:|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|
A:|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|
E:|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|

Memorizing Your Fret Board :

Step 1 : Start by memorizing only the natural notes on every string :

like on low E string :

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---| low E-string

then on the A-string :

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string

and so on...

Step 2 :Memorize all single notes on the fingerboard . 

Like for A note 

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-A-|---| B-string
G:|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string

and same for B,C,D,E,F and G

Step 3 :Memorize the Octates ( Yeah this seems tricky !!!)

To find octates on fingerboard :

- Play a random note on the low E or A-string, then move up 2 half steps (2 frets), move up 2 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #1 )


- Play a random note on the D or G-string, then move up 3 half steps (3 frets), move up 2 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #1 )


- Play a random note on the high E or B-string, then move up 2 half steps (2 frets), move down 3 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #2 )


- Play a random note on the G-string, then move up 3 half steps (3 frets), move down 3 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #2 )

Example #1
    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|-A-|---|-B-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|-E-|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|-B-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string
Example #2
    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-D-|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-D-|---| low E-string


So get the most out of your fret board . Pick your guitar and discover it ..


Leave a comment anytime you want , I appreciate it.

Thanks,

Amit Les Paul