The First Ever Lesson (True Blues Soloing):
This guide offers a basic overview of the Blues scale, with ideas and concepts which should lead you to a much better understanding of this wonderful scale. Who knows, you might even fall in love with it.
The Blues Scale:
|-1------------4----------|
|-1------------4----------|
|-1--------3---4---------|
|-1--------3--------------|
|-1---2---3--------------|
|-1®---------4----------|
Basically you play it in this way:
|------------------------------------------------------------------1-------4-|
|-------------------------------------------------------1------4-------------|
|--------------------------------------1-----3-----4-------------------------|
|----------------------------1-----3-----------------------------------------|
|-----------1----2-----3-----------------------------------------------------|
|--1---4---------------------------------------------------------------------|
That’s how the blues scale works. The ® marks the root of the whole scale, so if you’re playing it on the fifth fret, it becomes an A Blues Scale. Simple as that. Try remembering this progression and play it with increasing speed. For variations, play it backwards (note: for some reason, playing scales backward is faster 90% of the time).
Once you’ve familiarized yourself with this scale, we can start with all the nitty gritty stuff. Here’s a progression to try out:
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------1----4|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------1-------1--------|
|--------------------------------------------------1-----3----4-------4-------------|
|--------------------------------1----3----1/3--------------------------------------|
|----------1-----1----2---3---------------------------------------------------------|
|--1---4-----4----------------------------------------------------------------------|
This progression is a straightforward manipulation of the blues scale. Basically, you just play following the scale with a few skips here and there to create effect. It’s a very basic progression, without any guitar tricks (except a single slide to add depth), so it shouldn’t be any problem to master.
Alternately, move the whole progression down to the fifth fret, which makes it slightly easier to play. Once you can scale through this progression easily enough, try editing it to add your own feel to it without actually changing the original progression. I’ve left plenty of places to insert hammer-ons, pull offs, slides, and bends. An interesting thing to try in this progression is a double slide on the third string. Slide from (1) to (3), quickly pick it and slide down to (4).
An important aspect of the Blues scale is texture and feel. That’s exactly what you have to insert into every Blues-based solos. Blues scales work especially well with tricks like bending and sliding. Pepper this throughout your solo, and insert licks to maximize the scale’s potential. A good trick is to use licks based on the minor pentatonic scale (the one which corresponds with the Blues scale). So if you’re playing your Blues scale on an A, use licks based on the A minor pentatonic scale.
Back to progressions. Here’s an intermediate level one to try out:
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------5h7p5/7/8--[9b]---8/7b----------------------|
|---5--------------5h7---------------------------------------------------|
|------7--6--5~----------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This is the first part. Very basic stuff, just work on the speed. You have to play this real fast, with expression and accent, to make it sound good. Note the [10b] which is a bend on the 10th fret. This is from the A minor pentatonic scale and not from the Blues scale itself. Mixing a minor scale into the Blues scale creates an extra expression. On to the second part, then.
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------585858--[10b]--85-----|
|--------------------------57~--7----5~--------------------------------|
|-------------------57---------------------------------------------------|
|---5h6--7--765--------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
There. Slightly more complex in certain parts. Start out with a regular speed, around 2 notes per second, then when you hit the ‘765’ on the 5th string, speed on at around 4-6 notes per second. Aim for a bluesy vibrating sound at the ~ areas. The group of ‘58’ at the second string has to be played very very quickly, and make sure you pick them out clearly. Once again, the [10b] is brought in from the pentatonic scale to add spice. Give it a nice quick bend and hit in the last two notes. The next part is all about speed.
|-----------------------00-----------00----------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------55--------------------|
|----5/7h8-57b--75---------------------57875~--5--77--57b--5(hold)---|
|-----------------------75~--5757~57~------------7-------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
And that’s the end of this progression. Observe how you have to come in flying with a slide, hammer and bend rapidly in succession. Then, spam the notes (make sure you play the empty string too) with expression wherever needed. For this section, double string playing is used towards the end. You can pluck both strings quickly if you want, but an easier way is to strum both very quickly, creating a single note sound. Put all the parts of the progression together, familiarize yourself with it, and soon enough you’ll be able to personalize it to your liking.
Needless to say, I never got to part two. Now for the other two lessons, which thankfully have more substance.
The Second Ever Lesson (Know Your Notes):
I originally planned to release a book combining my Absolute Guitar Beginner’s Foundation lessons with three different guitar systems that greatly accelerate learning.
Then my band turned into a solo project and I end up typing this as a single free article. Note that this lesson covers a single system that shows a quick and efficient way to memorize notes.
I noticed early on in my guitar playing history that there was a certain pattern to some notes. To be honest, I could not find any coherent way to link them and put them down to coincidence. Then I started dabbling more into the intricacies of the guitar and realized music theory probably covered such a system. I tried studying music theory, failed miserably, and decided that it did not, in fact, cover such a system.
After a couple more months of playing, I decided to write down all the ‘patterns’ I could find. My Christian Praise and Worship book helped me on this one. There’s a guitar fingerboard chart at the back of the book, see.
So anyway, the first pattern I noticed was the diagonal ‘F-B’ pattern. I got this my looking diagonally from the 6th string. This meant I looked at 6th string 1st fret, 5th string 2nd fret, 4th string 3rd fret and so on. I got an ‘F-B-F-B-E-A#’ pattern for this. I got excited and checked it out on the other strings. It obviously did not fit. But I wasn’t disheartened. I cut down the number of notes in the pattern and got it down to the diagonal ‘F-B’ pattern. That seemed to work. And it did work for every single fret. Until I saw the 3rd string 10th fret was an ‘F’ note and the 2nd string 11th fret was an ‘A#’.
And so it went on. I spent a couple of hours everyday trying to discern a pattern. After a while, I decided to look directly downwards instead of diagonal. That seemed to work, but not every note fit. I got it down to a ‘D-G-C-F’ or something like that, working from the 6th string downwards. As soon as it hit the 2nd string, the ‘code’ stopped working. Very annoying, that. I looked directly at the open frets. From the 6th string downwards, that’s ‘E-A-D-G-B-E’. The ‘D and G’ fit into my initial pattern. Nothing else did.
I spent some time on the Internet and checked out most of the major music forums. And I realized I wasn’t the first one to realize there was such a system. A note-unifying system, if you like. One particular thread coded out a particular pattern of ‘A-D-G-C-F’ with the note of ‘repeat pattern with #, then B and E’. Ah ha.
Take a look again at the open frets of the six strings. It follows the pattern perfectly, up to the 2nd string. Let’s cut this tedious story short, shall we. Here’s a ‘natural order’. We’ll use the 6th string as a direct reference. The number refers to the fret number of the 6th string.
0 E
1 F
2 F#
3 G
4 G#
5 A
6 A#
7 B
8 C
9 C#
10 D
11 D#
Note that the 12th fret is an E note, and the order repeats from there.
After a bit of charting out the notes (thanks to the help of my band members), I made the same conclusion hundreds of other musicians before me have probably made. I found the secret order of the notes.
Okay, I didn’t actually find it. But I did put in a considerable amount of hard work to work out the patterns. Anyway,
Use the ‘secret code’ from the 6th string downwards. When you reach the 2nd string, use the note that will precede it in the natural order. If it sounds confusing, take a look at the secret code and back at the natural order. It’s easy enough but I’m not sure how to further simplify the explanation.
As to how to memorize this secret code, any mnemonics will do, really. A simple one is to remember this acrostic:
All Dogs Go Crazy for Baked Eels.
Some time after I ‘discovered’ the secret code, my friend sent me a link to the Fret 2 Fret website. I bought the program. It was definitely a great method to memorize the pattern. The best part was the tabs, though. All in all, I didn’t regret not finding out the program earlier. All that hard work only served to further imprint the secret code in my mind. For those reading my article and are STILL not clear about how it works, please do check out Fret 2 Fret. I can’t remember the name of the guy who made it but it’s pretty user-friendly. And it’s a program so all the diagrams and stuff are nicely arranged.
The secret code is:
A-D-G-C-F-A#-D#-G#-C#-F#-B-E
Now for the final lesson, a really good one, this. Not just for guitarists, either.
The Third Ever Lesson (Song Structure: Plotting a Masterpiece):
You’ve got a great concept. You have a truckload of inspiration. The melody is impeccable. You’re all geared up to write the mother of all songs.
What next?
At the base of every great song is an amazingly solid structure. Everything else is a sidenote. The one thing that must be crafted with exceptional care is the structure. This is true for basically every possible song, even if you decide to sing blather over random free verse chords. The song structure has to be planned out clearly and coherently, and this guide is aimed at helping you do just that.
To make visualization easier throughout this article, I shall liken a song to a story. Let’s take a look, then, at a couple of normal parts of a song:
Stanza, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Instrumental, Narration, Coda
The stanza is the meat of the story. It serves to further the story, offer descriptions and basically tell the tale. The number of verses used is entirely up to you. It is vital, however, to maintain the momentum of the story. It’s better to have two clever verses than five incoherent, sub-standard ones.
What is the difference between a Refrain and Chorus? Quite simply put, the Refrain tells what MIGHT happen. It predicts the story outcome and is unsolved. The Chorus, on the other hand, covers what has already happened. In a song featuring Refrains, the final Refrain is commonly replaced with a Chorus to ‘reveal’ the conclusion. In other cases, the songwriter might decide to reveal the conclusion after the last Refrain. This is, again, completely up to personal taste.
The Bridge is basically a part of the song played over a melody distinctly different from the other parts. It usually acts as a climax. In Wheatus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, a ‘female’ voice is used for the Bridge to humorous effect. In this particular example, the Bridge also acts as climax and conclusion. An instrumental section is, of course, pretty much self-explanatory. A Narration is a section where you ‘talk melodically’. Hardly used nowadays, but there are some tweaked variations. Josh Woodward’s ‘Gallows Hill’ can be said to be a variation of the Narration technique. The Code is the ending section and usually refers to a fade-out ending.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at musical devices and the key factors in plotting a song. Here are three formulae that are simple and important.
Pitch + Volume = Tone
Tone + Rhythm =Melody
Melody + Lyrics = Song
Now to figure out everything we need to know about each of these aspects.
Pitch refers to a note range and is commonly divided into sharp and flat (or high and low). Volume, also known as dynamics, is the variation of softness or loudness. Take a look at another simple set of formulae below:
SHARP + Soft = False-voice
+ Loud = Sharp
FLAT + Soft = Breathy
+ Loud = Deep
False-voice and sharp are classified as TREBLE. Breathy and deep are classified as BASS. Note that flat + very loud gives us something unofficially termed as ‘Power’.
These formulae show you how you can modify volume and pitch to achieve a certain tone. Plan beforehand what type of voice you wish to use. Refer to the melody to make sure everything you sing fits. A simple tip is to modulate your volume according to the sections. Sing a bit louder at the chorus than at the verses. When the drum kicks in, you should also generally sing a tad bit louder.
Now that you have a strong foundation, here’s an insanely short guide to vocal techniques. At its loosest meaning, vocal technique is the usage of vocal production for every vocal mechanism. This refers to the unifying register (head, middle and chest). Get yourself a good vocal teacher to guide you through posture, breathing, phonation and vocalization. In case you didn’t know, you should practice dropping only your lower jaw when opening your mouth when singing.
There are tons of great columns on writing melodies and good lyrics, so I doubt I’ll touch on them in my short tutorial. Check them out, decide what works for you, and keep practicing. Songwriting is an art form in itself and should be treated thus. I can, however, give you a couple of words of advice for writing strong lyrics.
Never force your lyrics. Be natural. Rhyming dictionaries can be used online and can come in handy sometimes. Familiarize yourself with them to enhance your skill. Always remember that, above all, the way the words sound over the melody is the most important part of the lyrics.
Broaden your mind. I’ve written songs about my emotions, my friends, degeneration of society, the end of the world, love and an anarchy movement, among others. Everyday life serves as the ultimate tool for your creative juices to flow. For example, an expired tomato in a supermarket sparked a song complaining about supermarkets. That turned into a song about closing times (can you catch the double meaning?). That in turn evolved into a song about nights. Which led to shadows, which led to the song ‘Umbrage of the Night’. See what I mean? Inspiration comes from everywhere.
I hope my short guide has given you the confidence to write stronger songs and build on song structure as never before. Always remember, the foundation is the most important part of the song. Happy writing.
