Soloing With Minimal Theory Knowledge

First off all, this lesson applies to songs in major, minor and blues keys. I do not guarantee it will work in other keys (I'm not that kind of a theory guru, I just play my guitar), this is for basic beginner improvising. It will not make you play like a god, it just shows you the path to improve your techniques by improvising. I don’t think it will be of any help to experienced players, but you can give it a try (but don't blame me if you’ve wasted your time). When I was a beginner, it helped me a lot.

Before we start, you need to know how to find which key the song is in (mostly it is the first chord of the song, but don't take it for granted – here is a good lesson about it http: //www. ultimate-guitar. com/less... ey_and_why. html the credit goes to SilentDeftone) and you need to know the notes on the e string:

0=E=Fb, 1=F=E#, 2=F#=Gb, 3=G, 4=G#=Ab, 5=A, 6=A#=Bb, 7=B=Cb, 8=C=B#, 9=C#=Db, 10=D, 11=D#=Eb, 12=E, 13=F=E#...
The same all over again.

So here's the point, for example (I with my mate do it this way) you say four letters) A, E, C, F (the jam is in the key of A (it does not matter if it is minor or major - you can just use the power chords if you are confused)). These basically stand for A5, E5, C5, F5 to make it an easy one. Play them over and over again in a certain rhythm (one of you does this the rhythm guitar), it doesn't really matter what the rhythm is.

Now there are what I call 5 solo figures. The diagrams shown are as if you put your guitar on the table with the neck pointing to the left and the o's are where you can move on the fretboard for a certain figure(if you are confused, don’t worry, you’ll see). The numbers above are the fret numbers. Also there are r's>the root notes, which I will explain later. First I will write the figures separately and then all together. These are figures for a solo in the key of A. The r's printed in bold are the note A. Thanks to the knowledge of the notes on e string. The key is A, so all you need to do is find the note A on the e string. It is the 5th fret, so on it you can "build" the 1st figure and the other figures can be built on the 1st figure.

I wrote on which fret the figure begins on the e string, but don’t take me wrong, the figures don't have a beginning(except for the root, where it sounds better to begin, although you don’t have to, it depends on your personal taste I'll explain roots later) nor an end, it is just a point of reference I will use later.

1st figure:
.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
h|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
g|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 
d|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
a|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
Begins on 5th fret

2nd
.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
h|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 
g|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 
d|-|-|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
a|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
Begins on 8th fret

3rd
.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
h|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
g|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
d|-|-|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 
a|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
Begins on 10th fret

4th
.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
h|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|
g|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 
d|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
a|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
Begins on 12th fret

5th
.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|
h|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|
g|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-| 
d|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|
a|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|
Begins on 15th fret

Study them a bit before reading on. Try playing each of them.

Now the whole fretboard (each figure is twice on the fretboard, because it is in two octaves. I wrote each one just once with the exeption of the 1st figure the frets marked x are the 1st figure in the upper octave, so you can see that it follows all over again).

.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|ox|-|x|-|-|
h|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|ox|-|x|-|-|
g|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|rx|-|-|x|-|-|
d|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|ox|-|-|x|-|-|
a|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|ox|-|x|-|-|
e|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|ox|-|x|-|-|

Now you see why I separated it into figures-it is much easier to learn it that way. You see how the figures 'fit in' each other? It means that if you learn the 1st and 3rd figure alone, you basically know the 2nd, because it lays between them. Of course the same applies to the 3rd and 5th. Between them is the 4th... I recommend using that when you are learning it, it makes it less confusing.

How to begin? Remember the r's? The root notes? Well those are all the A notes on the fretboard. From any of these points you can start your solo. And you can end it there. And of course you can play those notes during the solo. You can hit any of the " o's " on the fretboard and it will sound OK. It takes time and practice to be good at this, but this lesson is to show you the path to improve yourself. Now you know how to solo in A. But what about other keys? Now when you understand those figures, I can make a general diagram:

... 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th. 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th

|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|
|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|
|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|
|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|
|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|
|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|

This is it in two octaves. The 1st, 2nd etc above it is the number of the figure above the fret where it begins (see? I used it). So for example if you want to solo in the key of F#: F# is the 2nd fret of the e string. The fretboard with marked solo notes is going to look like this:

... 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th. 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th

... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9101112131415161718192021222324
|-| o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|
|-| o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|
|r| -|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|
|o| -|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|
|-| o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|
|-| o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|

^ What is this?
Well, you can see that I also included the 0, or the open string, but that is what would be on the theoretically -1st fret (minus first). Why did I do this? Just to keep the whole shape of the first figure. If you are confused, just ignore it. Just to be sure, I'll include the E. (my favorite, by the way )

... 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th. 1st... 2nd. 3rd. 4th... 5th

... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122
|-|o|- |r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|
|-|o|- |o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|
|r|-|- |o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|
|o|-|- |o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|
|-|o|- |o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|
|-|o|- |r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|o|-|o|-|o|-|-|o|

Remember that you can start the solo either on the low or the high e and also you can try altering the octaves(there are two bold r's on one string for a reason, if you didn’t notice). And there are also other, additional notes, but those are just to spice up and you will surely find them as you will be building up your style. I'll add them in part two of this lesson, is this is successful (which I don’t think it will, anyway). Oh, and be sure to put some time in it, it took me weeks before I started jamming along songs no problem, but on the other hand, what I wrote here is all I knew and then it only took practice. Well, that's that, and be sure to read all of it and post a comment. Any questions - PM me. I will reply, but sometimes it takes some time.

Comments

[ZoSo.Led.Zep.]

1st woo hoo..pretty good..maybe could have been set up nicer with all the ''o''s it gets abit confusing but prrtty good

[Kobain]

that's ***ing confusing but good anyway

[Big_Boss95]

I just don't get it

[civ182]

^ same...

[starla87]

Thanks... this helped me out. A cool, down to basics approach that supplements other lessons I*m studying.

[notredame_fan22]

confusing

[diddy50]

id say this helped me but to those of you who dont get it, u have to have a GOOD understanding of Scales

[Klayy]

Damn, confusing is just what is was NOT meant to be.If you really want to get it, e-mail me at [e-mail] and I'll give you some further explanations.

The whole point of the lessons is that you will learn shapes on the fretboard, which are not that hard to remember and thanks to that you will know which frets you can hit in a certain key...

[Klayy]

Maybe what would help is taking a tab of a solo and writing down all the notes in a diagram like mine and comparing it.For example if you take nothing else matters, you can see that it is mainly in the second figure... or stairway to heaven or I don't know Kill me

[bassdrum]

why are the strings EADGHE?

[Klayy]

That is what they are called in central Europe.What you know as B is here called H and what you know as Bb is here called Hes OR B.So sometimes it causes confusion, because whenever I see B I am not sure if it refers to "H" or to "B"....
HUH
So you see, I am used to EADGHE as well as EADGBE.That's why the typo came out.I really didn't realize it...
Stupid system, why can't everyone call them the same?

IMO it's more effective to use notes than shapes. Doesn't seem to be presented badly though!

[Klayy]

Its a matter of personal taste, IMO.
I know it is more commonly understandable in tab, but then again, this shows you what you can play, not an order you have to follow.

But anyway, there are lessons in tabs.This is a different approach.
Thanx for feedback.

[Evil Noodle]

So you're just explaining Pentatonic scales the easy way, without theory?

[Evil Noodle]

Also, you do know you can solo using the major scale too?

[jklsadj;sadjfak]

i guess it has to be confusin....no shortcuts to learning it.

[Iboseth]

shut the ·$%· up chongee u little piece ofv ·$%$· that doesnt understand anything.
By the way good lessson dude.

[Klayy]

Yeah, thanx Iboseth.I see that it depends on how intelligent you are as some just don't get and others who understood like it.
Anyway, I know you can solo in other keys dammit.Guess you didn't understand anything I stated in the lesson Evil Noodle...

[kokos]

thank u klayy thats what I was lookin for.easily explained for noobs like me.
for those who dont get it : stupid pricks, go to grammar school

[jaden_123]

probably the worst lesson ive ever seen

[Matze]

it's just the pentatonic you use here, and as can see, you used the minor type, so it matters in which key your song is played. if u play this major pentatonic to a oure minor song it wil sound very crappy

[Matze]

oh sorry, if you read my comment above, please replace minor with major and major with minor.

[hillyardca]

I am amazed at the different levels of ( education??)comments. Klayy, you laid out a good grid for a starting point for all of "us" who are interested in doing some soloing but didn't know where to start. As for the ones who just like to trade @#$& behind the safety of the internet,let the musicians trade the joy of information and take a hike.

[Klayy]

Thanx hillyardca, I've made it for people like you, I knew most of the people wouldn't like it, but I don't care.
And for Matze> you may be right but I use this for major and minor and it always sounds good to me...
Whatever,lol this wasn't the point of the lesson.People can read tons of theory in other lessons.

[uhwhatever]

good lesson man,you have it layed out pretty nice. I thought it was easy to comprehend, and helpful, thanks

[B-Cup666]

dude just get the guitar gremoire, and ull be sweet\

[dishwalla84]

its good. this will help me grow,,,.. thanks

[arsonite]

Good lesson man.

[Klayy]

ahh after such comments life feels just so good ....
Keep em comming

[guitarplaya1217]

wtf are the little circles?

[zippidyduda]

wtf are the little circles?

try reading the guide...

BTW, nice guide man!

[sentoroney]

im just a beginner, but i think i u just have 2 listen 2 d music 2 get d solo...

[ZiGgYfUnK]

hey this is great dude...everyone should just quit hatin people because they learn differently or because they play differenty

everyone has their own syle...thats what makes them unique...if everyone was the same, music would suck...so be a musician and just let people be, and worry about urself...unless ytou have CONSTRUCTIVE criticism

but yea dude, this was a great post...it helped...ive bene playin for a while so i know alot of this, but its really ood to go back and read this kinda stuff

really well laid out

[PaulHotdog]

that confused me to hell..

[randallp51r]

nice to geta dose of the basics again,nice work

[DragonTail]

whoever didn't get it just read it again thoroughly and then apply a solo u like to it, or make one up accordingly...don't just cry about it

[Fuhugumagoo]

thanx man, helped me lots

[Chumblie]

whoa. nicely put across. iv been playin about 10 months now and ive read dozens of lessons on scales and easy soloing but this one actually made sense. Cheers!

[the_offline69]

i just figured out sumthin. learning using computer is damn hard. ***.

[omgitscj]

The only part that confused me was after the 5 scale things when you put that general diagram I got lost. BUT you have opened up many, many doors for me I can now understand this stuff so now I can learn chords and scales and all that good stuff. 5 stars for you.

[guitarplaya1217]

wtf are the little circles? i cant understand that shit

[Transparent]

This helped me a lot. Covered exactly what I was looking for and skipped the parts I didn't want to delve into right away. thanks!

[Bloodletting77]

anyone know where i can get some coordination skills??

[rock zeppelin]

i agree with guitarplaya1217 i cant read any of that. The R's and the cicles i'm not following

[liam177lewis]

that is bloody confusing... i've been brought up pn tabs mate, not whatever the hell these are...

[liam177lewis]

i just worked it out... i think... methinks you play all the notes along the bottom string, then the 2nd then 3rd etc... that make sense? dont think i can explain it... yeah it is bloody hard...

[wookieonfire]

hes tryin to show the basic and slighty advanced versions of the pentatonic scale, but not really well, good try anyway

[Klayy]

I didn't want to use tabs, because tabs show an order in which notes are played, but that isn't what you need when soloing.You need to know which notes will surely sound in a certain key and the order of them is in fact the solo itself.So tabs are a no-no in lessons like this IMO.Read other comments, some people like it.

[WyldeChylde]

bravo... I like it... but then again I'm a blues rock guy so pentatonics and minor scales are my style... I enjoyed reading your work... I look forward to another lesson soon

[ThePartyBoy]

I would say that you do need minimal theory knowledge, because at first glance, the most common response is "What the ***?" Good guide, although I already knew most of it, those are just pentatonic scales, right?

I think my guitar teacher told me they were blues scales, but I guess he was wrong?

Or maybe I was?

[frainy]

man this lesson was idiot proof and it helped me a lot.....thanx

[brittany713]

that was confusing...but a good lesson ill just keep re reading. thanks

[maszi]

I don`t understand the figures though...

[martinbg]

That was just what I was looking for! Thx dude

[Klayy]

To fill you in a bit more, the scale I showed you is minor pentatonic, which can be played both in minor and major, but in major it will give you a blues feeling.If you want to solo in major key and you want the solo to sound major, simply use the same shapes and move them in this way. If you play in Emajor, use the figures as if you were playing c#minor.So the highest note of the second figure is the root.So generally move it 3 frets down (E=12fret, C#=9fret)

Use this site if you are interested more into this shit

http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php

peace

[smashngrab1991]

ahh, right, that explains why all the tabs for russian songs are E, C, Hb, Am etc..

[otto meester]

Hello,

Thanks for the lesson, it's better than all others for jammin'

I have one question, what to do if the chords in a song follow up very quickly? Is it possible to stay soloing on one chord or two chords instead of following the whole chord-pattern of the song?

Thanks!

[otto meester]

Hello,

Thanks for the lesson, it's better than all others for jammin'

I have one question, what to do if the chords in a song follow up very quickly? Is it possible to stay soloing on one chord or two chords instead of following the whole chord-pattern of the song?

[Davester1988]

dear god, you people are morons, pentatonic scales are neither major or minor, the 2nd figure he used is infact very close to the Aolian (natural minor) so this would work for some blues solos or whatever, all the shapes include the same notes but with the root positioned in different places, id suggest using the 2nd figure to start, it covers the most and has the root on the 6th string which helps, remember, find your key signature e.g C major, then count 3 down to A, this is your reletive minor, that would mean you play the 2nd shape on the 5th fret, the fact that its a minor scale has no significance what soever as it is reletive to the minor, i hope this has helped abit with where to play the scales over which keys. Dave x

[Klayy]

^^^ uh huh, yeah
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php?qqq=FULL&scch=A&scchn
am=Pentatonic+Minor&get2=
Get

minor is relative to minor? What the HELL are you talking about?!
Anyway, thanks for the input but I dont get what you were trying to say.except the moron part

[Klayy]

take the whole three lines of the address, including the 'get'

[hatsforboats]

Good lesson, basic to understand in the given keys. I am having trouble however figuring out how to apply it to others.

Thus far I've been assuming the following to be my chord progression: A,C,D. Now I think it is G,A,C,D.

Actually though, when played its open D,G,B hammer onto the A (bar 2nd fret) rhythm: GhAA AA AA CCC DDDD This assumes that the open D,G,B strings are part of a G chord. Which key and scale fits best in this situation? Also of note, at least to myself, the above chord progression is played entirely in just under 3 seconds. It seems like I would have to transition more than I'd actually solo! P.S. I realize theres probably a simple answer like, solo in G idiot. Its just odd for me cause I'm only now starting to learn theory and this song has a normal C (c and g chords) and a C# (a and d chords) Thanks in advance

[Klayy]

I didnt quite get it, but maybe you should just try soloing in G? or try ANY other key which fits.If it is Gmajor then try starting from Eb (bet that confused the hell out of you, try looking at the address I posted above and select Major pentatonic)

[Klayy]

try using the I link I posted above and select Major Pentatonic if it is Gmajor

[playerwannabe]

This looks almost (more so than not) like a FRETBOARD LOGIC knock off you know using the CAGED system except in Klayy's Fig 1 shape he combines the C and the A shapes together.

[Bobather_909]

until i read this, i barely understood scales, good lesson, it seems to me that the people criticising you are not begginers, so I dont know why they have to read your lesson in the first place

[theboogieman]

GOOD lesson!!! "A minor" pentatonic scale.....
try work it on E minor and C major chord run also... it fits.

[speedballer88]

very good but there isnt an Fb or a Bb

[box778899]

i extremely appreciate people who devote time to teach people things for free. i just started coupla months ago and i just want to thank EVERYONE who writes lessons

[axe_grinder247]

this may help and all, but the only true way to better your soloing ability is to gain a firm grasp on music theory, specifically scales/modes, basic chord theory, intervals, etc soloing isn't something you can be better at overnight, so work at it and try to understand music theory because unless you're going to be in a crappy punk band who plays a bunch of power chords, then learn theory...it'll make you a much better guitarist...better to understand then to memorize

[xxTNCxx]

pretty confusing, a beginner probably wouldn't understand this, but once you figure it out, it's actually pretty helpful...

[STERIOGRAM134]

the idea is good, could of been portrayed a little better, and less confusing but i get teh jist of it, thanks alot.

[14GreenDay]

xxTNCxx wrote:

pretty confusing, a beginner probably wouldn't understand this, but once you figure it out, it's actually pretty helpful...

you just condesended yourself, its pretty confusing, its ppretty helpful, make up your mind

[alguitbox]

brliant tnx a mil

[fingersofflame]

the diagrams are hard to understand...they are pretty confusing...but they are somewhat useful...

[bboyFearless]

Great help to me, and for that you will be rewarded by my ppl, unfortunatly it might just end up being a guy giving you a pack of sugarfree gum.

[MetallicaNRoses]

speedballer88 wrote:

very good but there isnt an Fb or a Bb

You mean Cb because there is indeed a Bb. He was just trying to show that it could be said both ways.

[Klayy]

axe_grinder247 :
this may help and all, but the only true way to better your soloing ability is to gain a firm grasp on music theory, specifically scales/modes, basic chord theory, intervals, etc soloing isn't something you can be better at overnight, so work at it and try to understand music theory because unless you're going to be in a crappy punk band who plays a bunch of power chords, then learn theory...it'll make you a much better guitarist...better to understand then to memorize


I agree, but you know, there are players who want to play or jam just for themselves and dont want and need to know theory. This lesson is mainly for those people.You know, if someone likes how it sounds, why should he know why it sounds good?

[Klayy]

axe_grinder247 :
this may help and all, but the only true way to better your soloing ability is to gain a firm grasp on music theory, specifically scales/modes, basic chord theory, intervals, etc soloing isn't something you can be better at overnight, so work at it and try to understand music theory because unless you're going to be in a crappy punk band who plays a bunch of power chords, then learn theory...it'll make you a much better guitarist...better to understand then to memorize


I agree, but you know, there are players who want to play or jam just for themselves and dont want and need to know theory. This lesson is mainly for those people.You know, if someone likes how it sounds, why should he know why it sounds good?

[Klayy]

Fb and E is a difference when you work with intervals
in theory, not sound

[*kill'emall*]

14GreenDay wrote:

xxTNCxx wrote:

pretty confusing, a beginner probably wouldn't understand this, but once you figure it out, it's actually pretty helpful...

you just condesended yourself, its pretty confusing, its ppretty helpful, make up your mind

no they didn't: "once you figure it out, its pprety helpful."

the only things that were messed up were the missing apostrophe in 'its' and the extra p in 'ppretty'

[Just_a_picker]

very confusing first go around, but after I read and re-read it, it made perfect sense.

[gutfeeling666]

WHAT THE HECK ARE THE "R"s FOR!
Cmon Klayy!

[zep_hed449]

Im glad that we finally got "h" strings Ive been waiting for those

[Klayy]

gutfeeling666 wrote:

WHAT THE HECK ARE THE "R"s FOR!
Cmon Klayy!

Root notes... it stated is in the article

E major - root note is E ... and so on

zep_hed449 wrote:

Im glad that we finally got "h" strings Ive been waiting for those

I do apologize for this, I did before in a comment a few pages above. Although most people dont know it, notes dont have the same reference names in all countries. In middle europe, where I live, B is what e.g. USA call Bb. And what USA call B is here called H. It is hard to keep switching between these two systems

[Klayy]

gutfeeling666 wrote:

WHAT THE HECK ARE THE "R"s FOR!
Cmon Klayy!

Oh, and - dont bother, just play them same as the o's. Roots are just something what is a starting point of a scale, here it is just a good place to start a solo, but you dont have to

[r0ckam3r1ca]

what the heck? this makes no sense. all the o's confuse me

[floydfanben]

hey
i have very little theory background, but i don't think you can get any clearer than this. helped me alot, thanks

[floydfanben]

ALso, is this A minor?
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/scales/major_pentatonic_scales.html
here this scale is listed as 'c'????
i'm confused now

[floydfanben]

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/scales/major_pentatonic_scales.html

i believe here it says that this is the c scale not a,,, i'm confused, also could you give me a few example songs in the key?

thanks

[boboguitar]

r0ckam3r1ca wrote:

what the heck? this makes no sense. all the o's confuse me

same here... use tabs.

[hellbound_jonny]

Just read the Lesson

Instead of Skim-Reading, take your time.

It's a perfect lesson and Klayy has done a Very Good job.

Thank You for taking the time to write this down, Klayy!

[shibby013]

its ok but still too confusing, but yeh cheerz for taking time to help others (Y)

[shibby013]

fuuuck i understand now, so u split them all up, all the notes you can play with A5, then all the notes you can play with eg. E5 and then bring them all together, and then improvise around all those frets? is that it?

[shibby013]

how do i personally work out where to move for diffrent figures?

[fishergirl106]

lol frikkin great lesson, i already knew all of this but its definitely great for someone who doesnt know where to start. pentatonics are definitely the best way to go when starting to solo.
and if you want to play a solo in a song in a major key, you can use a minor pentatonic. you just have to use the relative minor pentatonic (oops some theory goin on here lol). okay i'll give an example. say a song is in the key of C major, you can use the A minor pentatonic for soloing, because A minor is the relative minor of C major. If the song is in C# major, then you can play a Bbm pentatonic scale.
all the relative keys are: C=Am, C#/Db=A#m/Bbm, D=Bm, D#/Eb=Cm, E=C#m/Dbm, F=Dm, F#/Gb=Ebm, G=Em, G#/Ab=Fm, A=F#m/Gbm, A#/Bb=Gm, B=G#m/Abm.
hopefully that is not too hard to understand lol. sorry if it is :S

[joeyramoney]

h does not come after a in the alphabet, nor does it in music theory.

[Klayy]

joeyramoney wrote:

h does not come after a in the alphabet, nor does it in music theory.

Yeah, I've already explained that one quite a few comments earlier

[Klayy]

floydfanben wrote:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/scales/major_pentatonic_scales.html

i believe here it says that this is the c scale not a,,, i'm confused, also could you give me a few example songs in the key?

thanks

if you have a question, feel free to email me
The link you have posted shows a MAJOR pentatonic. The one I use in the lesson is a MINOR pentatonic. Does that clear things up?

[leftys rule]

what the **** is with the 0's and the r's. this shits confusing anyone know any sites that teach you stuff in music not ****ed up 0's and r's.

[bronkim]

Great Lesson ,
Helped me out alot thank you very much for sharing.
Now are there any lessons in here for the Lefty Guitarist? ; )

[Klayy]

leftys rule wrote:

what the **** is with the 0's and the r's. this shits confusing anyone know any sites that teach you stuff in music not ****ed up 0's and r's.

Well I apologize for not putting enough stress on "Minimal theory knowledge" in the title

[Gyser]

wow...nice...lemme tell u why i like this

its a lot easier to improv..because i cant think of where the root note is, and then just play that form on the rest of the strings down...then switch forms and all this other stuff

very nice thanks this really helped

[trueguitarhero]

ok, lemme get this straight, we start the solo on an r, but we can play any fret marked with an o or r? if im right, this just helped immensely. thanks dude.

[led_zephyr]

Dude, it soes matter whether its major or minor. Just learn the Jazz Scales, 7th Chords, and modal theory and you'll have much more options, plus it won't sound like $#!t. Thanks. Anyone who only knows power chords sucks. Peace.

[hbarnett1]

don't quit your day job,you suck at guitar lessons!

[iml84myd8]

I like this lesson. The figures he shows are easier to understand than tab, because it shows all the positons directly on your fretboard. And to clarify this is not just an A minor pentatonic scale. These are all the pentatonic scales in the key of C.

[Klayy]

hbarnett1 wrote:

don't quit your day job,you suck at guitar lessons!

lol, when I wrote that lesson i was still in high school

[shredisking]

Really clear, easy to understand (if prepared to put in a teeny bit of effort!) - thanks. What's with these people confusing scales (usually shown as notes on the fretboard either horizontal or vertically) with tablature which is simply a way of making a piece of music accessible for people who can't read music (or can't be bothered!) the traditional way!
A good next step would be to show how the minor and major blues scales are just the same scales with two or three added notes.
Don't listen to people like hbarnettt1 who obviously sucks at guitar learning!! lol

[patg31k]

dude this shit was prty hard to understand wtf man y dint u jst put it in tab

[ghostofhendrix]

Any1 who doesn't get that should just give up lead guitar. Pentatonics are THE simplest scales to learn and that lesson xplained it pretty well IMO thnx klayy

[Painless]

wtf!!

[Klayy]

patg31k wrote:

dude this shit was prty hard to understand wtf man y dint u jst put it in tab

Because there are like a million lessons like that on the web. None of them helped me, so I just wanted to share this different approach which was more understandable for me.

[altah]

thanks Klayy .. much appreciated this lesson is. I've been playing the guitar for 6 years and don't really know anything about theory and i feel bad about it. At least i know pentatonics now

[koh132001]

Good lesson except when u gaze much on th notes, it is like watchin 3d and feels kinda weird and sick.

[Klayy]

I think that a good idea is to take a paper, draw a guitar neck and draw the diagrams yourself, I know that it looks like a mess when it's in ascii, but I didn't have much of a choice

[ChicNStu0017]

it was too confusing for a beginner, I was lost after the 2nd paragraph... I think it could use work to help beginner's understand what all that means instead of just typing it out without giving some sort of direction

[hitmanbx]

No Enharmonics between E&f and B&C on your E string chart. No fb on 0 or E# on fret 1 same for frets 7 and 8 no Cb or B#.It shoule look like This 0=E, 1=F, 2=F#/GB, 3=G, 4=G#/Ab, 5=A, 6=A#/Bb, 7=B, 8=C, 9=C#/Db, 10=D, 11=D#/Eb, 12=E.

[Marillion]

Great lesson. It really helps.

[Marillion]

O, and I think the easiest way to remember this figures is to learn one of the middle ones and then expand to the left and right from there...its easy that way...

[akam80thewolf]

maybe this has been answered, and by the way this was an amazing lesson i dont understand how so many people are complaining about it being difficult, but my question is how do i locate the other "o's" in other keys?

[jane_says]

great lesson but if u were a complete begginer u would have no idea wat ta do

let me try to clear a few things up ( i no sum of u already did)

the "r"s are root notes, like if u notice when he depicted the A minor scale, all the notes that are marked R, are A notes,

next, the "o"s are just like a template, that u can put over any fret of the guitar as long as it stays within that template, for example

heres the "template"

.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819
e|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|- |-|
h|-|-|-|-|o|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
g|-|-|-|-|o|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
d|-|-|-|-|o|-|r|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
a|-|-|-|-|o|-|o| -|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
e|-|-|-|-|r|-|-|o|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| -|-|-|


and here it is in tab form

-----5-8-----
-----5-8-----
-----5-7-----
-----5- 7-----
-----5-7-----
--5-8-----

now thats the A minor pentanic scale.....now move this "template up 2 frets to get

-----7-10-----
-----7-10-----
-----7-9-----
-----7 -9-----
-----7-9-----
--7-10-----

and wat do ya no, u got a b minor pentanic scale, its called a B scale cuz the root note is B, so maybe that clears a few things up

[jane_says]

srry bout that last comment the tab forms really didnt turn out right.....but there correct anyhow

[I suk at guitar]

this actually helped me a lot i havnt even been playing guitar that long and it didnt take me long to get it. thanks a lot.

[john limjap]

hahaha, all the while i thought i invented this method... i was surprised when i saw my "own" method here... try this! its very simple yet effective for beginners...

[Klayy]

john limjap wrote:

hahaha, all the while i thought i invented this method... i was surprised when i saw my "own" method here... try this! its very simple yet effective for beginners...

Actually I am very surprised this method is not known very commonly. It is the easiest way to learn scales (but if you want to go into more advanced stuff, you need to read theory lessons, not this) but I do admit that it can get confusing when it is in ascii. But many people did understand, so...

[Scoobie_Snack]

A great post mate, nice work. I'm just branching out into solos and this is really helpful. Keep 'em comming! 5 stars

[Scoobie_Snack]

Make that 10 stars lol

[Eldanar]

for me it war really helpfull, simple and great- 10

[Madhur Damn]

Pretty good, you just need some more organization.

[Jk3y]

really helped! People tried to explain this to me but I got it after reading this and now I solo a lot better!

Thanks a Billion! And You wrote in in high school!

[fat chicken]

dunno if anyone else has noticed, but you wrote for the strings "h" instead of "b" like this:

e
h
g
d
a
e

or maybe i'm just seeing things.....



it's true, my dog now looks like a pig, oh no somethings wrong!! (get up out of chair, walk, trip on concrete, snap spinal cord and die)

all because i saw h instead of b

(but really, why did you put h instead of b? or is it meant to be like that?)

[Kamikaze_kidpl]

Some people don't use h just b . Good lesson

[Kamikaze_kidpl]

I mean some people don't use b just h

[jboone706]

I like the way you organized the content of this lesson, but i would have added a short explanation to how pentatonic scales are built. Then again the title is "soloing with minimal theory knowledge," so kudos...

[Klayy]

fat chicken wrote:

dunno if anyone else has noticed, but you wrote for the strings "h" instead of "b" like this:

e
h
g
d
a
e

or maybe i'm just seeing things.....



it's true, my dog now looks like a pig, oh no somethings wrong!! (get up out of chair, walk, trip on concrete, snap spinal cord and die)

all because i saw h instead of b

(but really, why did you put h instead of b? or is it meant to be like that?)

Klayy :
That is what they are called in central Europe.What you know as B is here called H and what you know as Bb is here called Hes OR B.So sometimes it causes confusion, because whenever I see B I am not sure if it refers to "H" or to "B"....
HUH
So you see, I am used to EADGHE as well as EADGBE.That's why the typo came out.I really didn't realize it...
Stupid system, why can't everyone call them the same?
POSTED: 03/19/2005 - 12:34 pm



You COULD just read the comments, couldn't you

[rottendecayed]

good tab good lesson

[DEATHbyBLOOD]

this is good information, but if you're like most people on this stupid site you'll just skim through this lesson and when your'e done you expect to know some secret formula to being an awesome guitarist. sit down and take this information in, apply it to your guitar. there is no magic secret to playing the guitar, just practice.

[WarlockSlinger]

good lesson, i have some theory knowledge, but my concern is i learn the scales, and when i go to make a song, i get a chord progression going and then i don't know where to begin to solo. for example, i wrote a chord progression thats relative to the E Phrygian, which is the 3rd degree of the C maj scale, but i don't know how to solo to it, every time i try something it sucks. i try using blues, min scale, major, modes, but nothing works. what should i do?

[ddavis8frontman]

Umm, learn the scales, match your each scale to your rhthymn notes, then just ****in' have fun!!! If it sucks, you suck as a lead! Solos come from the heart.

[Guitar4ever666]

This lesson is easy to understand if you read it slowly. i get it now. Yay i can now solo in the key of A.

[WTSP]

good lesson, but for people with little attention spans (like myself) its a little long
but goo nonetheless

[Don Hoefelmann]

I've played mostly rhythm guitar for 40 years. Here's an observation, for what it's worth. People used to tell me I was a good writing teacher because I could remember the things I used to not know. This enabled me to see through the eyes of inexperienced writers and help them where they needed help. Maybe you experienced and (by ear) players could try to put yourself in beginner's shoes--even me after 40 years--and try to remember the time before you were so good you didn't have to think about it. Maybe don't take for granted that we understand "the shapes" or "the scales or modes." Just a thought. I signed up only this evening and have enjoyed reading the comments--and the lessons.

[kingsnake76]

i dont like your thery...yea that will work for few songs but you need different scales to play with all the songs. basicl i think this lessons crap it goes agains a crapload of theory.

[xxZacGxx]

try pentatonic scale genius...those r the shapes...

[wannaberocker19]

Will someone explain to me why everyone thinks that you have to know musical theory to play the frickin' guitar??? I have people where I live that say until you have the scales memorized you can't play worth a crap, and the modes, etc... I'm lucky if I can remember what note to tune my guitar strings but I can play so many famous songs perfectly it isn't even funny.

Secondly, don't you think that things like tablature should replace musical notation for guitar. It's much more informative on special f/x done on the fretboard.

Klaay, I'm not gonna diss you because you believe in theory and that rigamaroll, but just don't mess with the people that don't use it or need it, because once you learn it, all the creativity is gone, plus... if you just sit and play around on a guitar all day, you'll eventually figure it out if you aren't a complete bollock.

Peace

[ZTO]

This is a great lesson. Maybe after a year of getting nowhere I will become better. Thank you for this.

[Genome_666]

wannaberocker-Learning scales are a guide line to playing guitar. It doesn't nesseraly keep you in a box and take away your creativity. It's just helpful to know what you playing.

[Ealx]

nice

[rickyjackson]

well done. i had to read through a few times to get it but i did. and i hav no understanding of scales watsoever and i got it

[Smithsc]

so basically this by ear not knowledge?