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Hello , I was wondering if someone could suggest a good practice path within active melody to help build a great foundation for understanding the guitar. I can look at something on YouTube and learn how to play it but I want to learn more of the why and how it’s put together so I can improvise create my own stuff and be able to just enjoy playing creatively. I’d like to have learning path that I can go to each day and know I’m not only progressing by learning cool licks and songs but also building an understanding of guitar that I can lean into when I just want to pick it up and have fun
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Hi Patrick,
AM is definitely not a linear path but so many lessons contatin repetitive concepts such that things do begin to coalesce over time.
I would suggest that learning the CAGED chord shapes and seeing how the root notes fits within those CAGED shapes to create the “octave pattern” all over the neck is foundational. That’s the key to navigating the fret board. Next I would see how major and minor triads fit in and around those CAGED shapes.
Next you want to begin to see what scales lie within those CAGED shapes, especially the major and minor pentatonics. Brian did a whole series where he goes over everything that is found within one of the CAGED containers, EP 556-560.
After getting a handle on the pentatonics you can start to fill in the complete major and minor scale.
As you begin to see the triads and intervals you will see that many of Brian’s licks are created around the chord shapes.
I think that’s how I would start to teach a beginner along with some basic music theory of harmonizing the major scale to understand the “chord family” of a key.
There’s so much more such as connecting pentatonics, mixing major and minor pentatonics, phrasing and playing chord changes not to mention all manner of technique but that’s where I would start.
John -
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Hi Patrick. In addition to the excellent advice from Charjo if you go to the Lessons page and click on the Courses link at the top you’ll see Brian has 3 courses available…Theory, Caged, and Lead.
Joe
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge -
As for me, I learned everything I know about playing guitar from the Active Melody lessons…..except one thing: Right after I bought my first guitar (just before I joined AM) I knuckled down and learned the pentatonic scale positions very thoroughly. It took me about 2 weeks of noodling the positions all over the neck for several hours per day. I practiced in maybe 15 minute-long spurts, but multiple times per day. Of course it’s rote memorization, but after a couple of weeks, I could connect the scales all over the neck, play them ascending and descending, find the root notes in each position. I used to put on an E or A 12-bar blues jamtrack and just play the scales in time with it. For me, it was the fastest and easiest way to learn to play improv, since for 3-chord and 4-chord songs, you literally can’t hit a bad note.
Sunjamr Steve
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Hi Patrick, Brian has a video Ep498 that will help give you a linear path and links to lessons to fill in the gaps of knowledge. This will give you a kick start. Then you can set your own path forward. All the above suggestions are excellent advice. I concur with Charjo on the aspects of CAGED which helps understanding the ‘ big picture’ of the fretboard as it was a game changer for myself.
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