Learning Guitar Questions.. Most Needed for Writing (electric) Rhythm Guitar?
Posted in learn guitar on 15. Apr, 2010
What’s this week’s learn guitar question? Let’s dive straight in…
The stuff I like is usually pretty simple, rhythmic, ethereal..
I know all the major and minor (learning 7th) open chords. From what I can tell, a lot of the music is broken down between these chords played as chords and also appregios.
True?
My next step is the pentatonic scales.
Am I wrong or can a lot of music be played by having a good comfort of all of the above?
—5—index
—5—index
—6—middle
—7—pinky
—7—ring
—5—index (bars across all 6 strings at the 5th fret)
This is the basic A major bar chord. Notice that it is an E chord shape moved up the neck with the index barring across all six strings behind it. This is a movable bar chord form. At the 1st fret it is an F chord, 3rd fret it is G, 5th fret it is A, 7th fret it is B, 8th fret it is C, 10th fret it is D.
If you use the Em shape than they all are minor chords (lift the middle finger)
If you use the E7 shape than they all are 7th chords (lift the pinky).
This is a crucial concept to learning to play rhythm guitar.
The other series of bar chords are root on 5th string and they are based around the A chord shape EX;
–(5)–index
—7—ring
—7—ring
—7—ring
—5—index
—x—mute
This is the D major bar chord (based on the A chord shape) It is a bit more difficult because it requires that you bar the ring AND index fingers. This is also a moveable shape. At the 2nd fret it is a B chord, 3rd=C, 5th=D, 7th=E, 8th=F, 10th=G.
By using the minor chord and seventh chord shapes based on A you can play all of these as major, minor, or 7th chords.
Memorize these shapes and learn to move between them. This is the foundation for rhythm guitar playing on an electric guitar.
The next step is to memorize the basic pentatonic scale EX;
–5–8–
–5–8–
–5-7—
–5-7—
–5-7—
–5–8– This is the A minor AND C major pentatonic scale.
Play it one note at a time starting on the low E string at the 5th fret than move to the next note on that string. Repeat all the way across the neck and back. Learn to use hammer ons and pulloffs on each string as well as various bends.
This will give you a solid foundation to work from.
I strongly suggest enlisting the help of a good qualified local instructor. A good teacher can get you playing this stuff in no time and help you with the stylistic and technical considerations. You can learn more in one MONTH of lessons than you can in a YEAR of trying to teach yourself. This is no joke. I have had students go farther in a month or so of lessons than they did in a year or more of trying to teach themselves! Consider it.
You’re right. keep learning though. you’ll want a firm grasp on the major/minor scale, which is where the pentatonic scale was derived from. See, the Major scale is 7 notes, and the Pentatonic (penta means 5), uses 5 notes of the major scale… so it’s good to know the Major/Minor scale, which also is technically the same as all 7 modes.
Most simplistic music is put together by using power chords nowadays anyways. By knowing your major scale, you can just play power chords within the scale, and that will determine what key you’re using. From there, you can use arpeggios over that for the melody, which are just the individual notes in a chord played 1 at a time. For lead work, the pentatonic scale is widely used in most genres today, as it’s easy to play, since all 5 box patterns utilize 2 notes on each string… it also sounds more fluid at times, rather than running through a scale.
What you’re learning is the basic, basic, basic core of music (which is great that you’re starting there, and you’ll want to get a firm grasp on all that). To fully understand it, you’ll want to know how chords are built, the CAGED system works well, and your major/minor scale…. as well as learning the Circle of 5ths, to show you how keys are built, in relation to all those sharps and flats.
Once you have most of these things learned, you’ll just focus on learning new scales, chords and practicing techniques, like grouping notes together, legato, trills, hammer-ons/pull offs, sweep picking your arpeggios, 2 hand tapping, economy picking, chromatic warmups… etc.