There is no question that mastering the guitar takes dedication, determination, perpetual practice, and a passion for music. You’ll most likely get callus’, carpel tunnel, and miss out on some parties that probably won’t be that great anyway. It took me over a decade to discover and develop the abilities that let me utilize the entire fret-board without even having to think about it. We call this flow state. It happens after years of repetition, when muscle memory becomes so great that you don’t even have to think about what your doing.
Self taught as a child, and eventually studying music in college, along the way there have been specific theories and techniques… milestones I would hit and look back on that I know have all taken my guitar playing to the next level. Why is this important to you? This information will let you skip all of the aimless wandering on the endeavor to guitar mastery; and save you loads of time. As a student I didn’t know what techniques to look for or what to be practicing, so I took all of the information I could find, used what worked and discarded what didn’t. You can now skip through all of the unnecessary material and focus on what really counts. Hear is my list of the most important guitar theory concepts and techniques that you should focus on to take the fast track to guitar mastery.
1. Know Your Fret-board
Maybe the most undervalued and overlooked part of guitar playing is to know the notes on the fret-board. Many people think if they can move their fingers and make noise they don’t need to know anything else. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Knowing the notes that you are playing will set up to build chords, scales, and arpeggios in the future; not to mention the ability to sync up with other musicians. Playing an instrument you don’t know is like building a block tower blind folded. You can do it, but it won’t end very well. Perhaps the easiest way to learn your notes is to find one note and then find the subsequent octaves. You can play octaves simultaneously or sequentially. Make a song with octaves if you would like and say the names of the notes in your head as you play them. For examples on octaves used in song form listen to Jimi Hendrix’s “Third stone from the sun” or Steve Vai’s “Tender Surrender.” Saying the notes in your head as you play scales may help as well.
2. Intervals
An interval is the difference between two pitches. Play each interval and familiarize yourself with each unique sound. I highly recommend not only playing these intervals on the guitar but using a piano as well. A piano is perhaps the best instrument available to visualize music. Intervals are explained below:
Unison – It’s the same note really.
minor 2nd – One half step (e.g. C to db) A half step is the distance from one fret to the next (e.g. fret 2 to 3, or 3 to 4), while a whole step is skipping a fret (e.g. 2 to 4, or 3 to 5).
Major 2nd – One whole step
minor 3rd – 1 1/2 steps
Major 3rd – Two whole steps
Perfect 4th – 2 1/2 whole steps
Tri-Tone – (AKA augmented 4th or diminished 5th) 3 whole steps = Diabolus in musica.
Perfect 5th – 3 1/2 whole steps
minor 6th – 4 whole steps
Major6th – 4 1/2 whole steps
minor 7th – 5 whole steps
Major 7th – 5 1/2 whole steps
Octave – 6 whole steps
You can help yourself to memorize these intervocalic sounds by attaching the auditory stimulus to a memorable sound. I do not recommend this method as a teacher once showed me because now when I hear a Major 6th I often think of NBC or when I hear a Perfect 4th I often think of here comes the bride. Rather, I encourage you to take these intervals and write your own songs with them. You may also want to drill with a friend; testing each other on whether the other person can guess the interval by hearing it.
3. Scales
This is huge! Knowing the foundations of music theory will enable you to build your own chords and scales ANYWHERE on the neck. It takes you out of the boxes and limits you only to your imagination.
First you should know the major scale formula WWHWWWH (W=whole step, H=half step). Also keep in mind that the natural minor scale begins on the sixth degree of the major scale. Natural minor formula WHWWHWW
Memorize a few scales but don’t devote all of your time to playing them forwards and backwards. This is not musical, and if you don’t practice musically then you won’t perform musically. There are endless ways to manipulate the scales and break up the monotony of running them up and down. Starting on note 1 with a fifth or sixth string root, try playing 123,234,345,456,567,671, as well as reverse. In the key of C Major it will look like CDE, DEF, EFG, FGA, GAB, ABC. Another good exercise is 13,24,35,46,57,61.
If you have an interest in classical guitar, learn the Segovia scales. Even if you just play electric, this book will open up new dimensions to fret-board exploration. And if you think classical guitar is just for nerds, keep in mind that people like Randy Rhodes, Steve Morse, Andy McKee, and even yours truly have studied classical guitar. For a more contemporary approach to scales and modes check out the Guitar Grimoire.
Modes: For every note in the major scale (1-7), there is a corresponding mode that begins on each note. Knowing these modes from sixth or fifth string root will open you up to some awesome position shifts. Knowing these modes in various octaves will open up the fret-board and enable you to play anywhere at anytime. Modes in order:
Ionian, dorian, phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, aolean, locrian.
Note that dorian, phrigian, and aolean are minor modes because they incorporate a minor third or flat 3. Locrian is a diminished scale because it has a flat 3 and a flat 5.
Pentatonic Modes: There are five notes in the pentatonic scale (hence the name) and therefore five different modes. The most commonly played pentatonic mode by far is the pentatonic minor scale, which begins on the Major scale’s sixth pitch (as with natural minor). Learn all of these modes and after you master the minor mode, add in a flat 5 and it becomes the blues scale.
4. CHORD CONSTRUCTION
Understanding chord construction will enable you to build your own chords of any quality at any part of the neck. As you know the major scale is composed of seven tones. A triad is a three note chord that consists of the root, third, and fifth tones. For example, if I was playing in the key of C Major and I wanted to play a triad built on the first scale degree (C) I would take the root (C), I would skip the second (D), use the third (E), skip the fourth (F), and use the fifth (G). I then have a C Major triad which is CEG, or 1,3,5. You will see in step six how this process can be used on any scale degree.
The fifth of the chord is like salt; too much can ruin your dinner. The third of the chord however, tells you the quality of the chord. The third is very important because just a half step difference causes a dramatic change in feeling of the entire chord. A triad is known as Major if it has a major third (from root to third) and it is minor if it has a minor third (see intervals in step 2). A diminished chord will have a minor third and a diminished (lowered 1/2 step) fifth. An Augmented chord will have a Major third and an augmented (raised 1/2 step) fifth.
Additionally, You may want to experiment with adding different scale degrees to your C Major chord such as a second, fourth, sixth, or seventh (especially if you have developed an ear for jazz). Try omitting the fifth and adding in a seventh. Hands down the best chord book I have ever used is Ted Greene’s Modern Chord Progressions. He has many other books as well.
Extended chords: Add the seventh note in the scale to form a tetrad. The quality of the seventh (whether it is major or minor) will change both the sound and the name of the chord. If you add the second scale degree at a higher octave, it will be called a ninth chord. For example, a C9 chord will use the notes CEGB and D (1,3.5,7,9). A Cadd9 on the other hand will omit the 7th of the chord and will be spelled CEGD. Extended chords also include 11th chords (using the 4th at octave), and 13th chords (which is the 6th at octave).
5. Key signatures
Just memorize them.
6. Diatonic Chord Progressions
If you know your key signatures (or at least one of them) you will know where all your sharps and flats need to go in order to play in that key and make some good harmonies. While chord dictionaries are a good reference tool, they only tell you how to play the chords but not when to play them and what chords to pair them with.
If you want to play in a key, you have to know what notes are in that key (see step 5). For each note in the major scale, there is a corresponding chord built on that note
Fifth: G A B C D E F G
Third: E F G A B C D E
Root: C D E F G A B C
Scale Degree: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Note that lower case letters are often used in roots to denote a minor or diminished chord. It is not uncommon to see a b minor chord simply written as “b” or “bmin.”
Furthermore, there are certain orders in which the brain likes to hear chords resolve. Writing music can be analogous to reading a novel or watching a movie. It wouldn’t be interesting if the protagonist didn’t face some adversity, and it also wouldn’t be interesting if you just played pretty chords all the time. Chord progressions in tonal harmony will follow a general rule: 3-6-2-5-1 with 4 being interchangeable with 6, and 7 being interchangeable with 5.
7. Arpeggios (the devil’s food)
One of my favorite things to do with a guitar is sweep picking. There is no better way to sweep than to arpeggiate triads and extended chords. Simply put, an arpeggio is a sequence of notes played in order. This may be ascending, descending, or both. This technique is commonly utilized in shred guitar but can be found in an array of different styles. To diversify your arpeggios, play the sequential triad or tetrad, and choose different positions, notes, or strings to slide up or down to the next note. You can then resume the arpeggio in a different position.
8. Tapping
If sweeping alone isn’t enough to impress your friends, try some tapping riffs. If you know your fret-board (see step one), you can outline triads and extended chords anywhere you want. Start off with using your first finger on your fretting hand, tap the next note with your ring or pinky finger of the same hand and take your index or middle finger on your other hand and tap a note on the same string. Applications of this technique are limited only by your imagination. You can use multiple fingers, chords, slides, etc.
9. Play by Ear
Turn on your radio and play along. Sing the notes you play and play the notes you sing. Use a backing track. Good aural skills are a necessary component to becoming a great musician.
10. Learn How to Read
Learning how to read music is much like learning a second language (but perhaps easier and more important in my opinion). It is a universal language that connects cultures around the world. While at sometimes it may feel mundane and slow going, just persevere and remember this is a life long skill your developing that you will be glad to have twenty, thirty, or forty years from now. Teach yourself with a book or take some lessons.
Tablature is an easy alternative to reading notation and can be a supplement as well. However, it is not a replacement for notation. While tabs will tell you where to put your fingers, it does not tell you the duration of the notes. Therefore you would have to be familiar with the song you are learning and even then it may be difficult. I would highly recommend spending the extra time to learn to read notation.
Metronomes:
They will definitely help your rhythm. Start slow and build up speed over time. It is always better to be able to play slow and clean, than fast and sloppy. You gotta walk before you can run. Honestly, I rarely use a metronome, but I can often tell if another guitar player uses one just by hearing them play. The metronome will make you more precise with timing. If your like me and get bored by how tedious a metronome can be, do it anyway, and then find a drummer with a steady hand.
Remember to always play and practice musically. Ask a friend to play some chords while you practice scales and improvise or vice versa. Try to create your own songs and always find new (or new old) music that spans different genres.
Lastly, remember that everything on the fret-board overlaps in a cacophonic smorgasbord. You can stay in the same position and play an unimaginable amount of different scales, chords, and arpeggios; diatonic or not. I highly recommend practicing this.
Tell me what you liked about this article and what you didn’t like. Did I leave anything out that you think is essential to guitar mastery? I am considering expanding on this article and turning it into an E-book, so if you want to see some info on a particular topic or technique let me know and I can add it in. Also sign up to get emails for more articles like this one.
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Mindful Explorer 