Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn several embellishment ideas that you can attach to both major and minor chord shapes. Reuse these when you’re improvising.
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Lots of good ideas. Thank you.
Brian, Nice lesson and it should improve my strumming capabilities. Thanks
Nice rhythm ideas, they should integrate well with lesson ML 145. Thanks!
always like lessons like this one. lots of great ideas!
Love this stuff!!! Brian, I need some advice on how to utilize passing chords?
That’s a nice little ditty. The importance of rhythm technique cannot be underestimated. Excellent lesson, that I hope many member take to heart.
For those of you well versed in CAGED, that first embellishment from the A barre chord stays in A major pentatonic land (pattern #3), but it’s part of the G-Shaped A if you imagine that you have a low B string on your guitar, the root note A would be right over the D on the 10th fret. It’s good to work this all out in your head so it is seen as just another option for the A chord. It’s also the same as being at the 2nd fret area on strings 4 & 5 and playing the G-Shape A chord from there. It’s all right there along with the relative minor (F#m).
That A6 chord can also function as an F#m chord as well (top three strings 3rd inversion).
The full F# natural minor sale is also available to you over a minor barre chord, not just the minor pentatonic. But the key of the song is in A major, so that might be overkill and better reserved for a minor key.
And yes, I’ve already gone down the million paths already, and they are very satisfying. I’m definitely stealing that double hammer-on minor barre chord. It might just appear in the next challenge video.
This lesson immediately brings Jack Johnson to mind…
Hi Michael,
I always enjoy reading your comments – you delve deeply into each lesson and often provide additional insight and your enthusiasm is infectious.
I’m a little confused by your analysis of the first A chord embellishment (bar 1).
You say, ‘it’s part of the G-Shaped A if you imagine that you have a low B string on your guitar’.
I’m lost. Are you imagining a completely new system with a new tuning of the guitar? Fine if that’s what works for you, but that’s not the CAGED system for standard tuning.
You say, ‘It’s also the same as being at the 2nd fret area on strings 4 & 5 and playing the G-Shape A chord from there. ‘ That’s the actual G shape for A and it covers all the strings (as do all the CAGED shapes). The only other place that exists is repeated at the 14th-17th frets.
Using CAGED, the ‘E shape’ for A sits around the 5th – 7th frets (repeated at 17-19). Moving up to the 7th- 10th frets (as this embellishment does) brings us into the D shape of the A chord (cagE – D) with the roots on the D and B strings. The G shape for A sits between the 2nd and 5th frets (caGed) roots on the E G E strings.
The G shape at the 7th – 10th is for the D chord (again roots on the E G and E strings).
Brian teaches to think of the embellishment as playing from the E shape – probably to simplify things and because he is playing the chord in the E shape, but it’s actually moving into the D shape area.
Corrections welcome. Hope this helps somebody (that’s the only reason I write this stuff).
Just to add, for anyone new to CAGED – CAGED is about chord shapes. It’s not about scale patterns.
Scale patterns (like the pentatonic, major, minor, mixolydian etc.) can be linked to CAGED shapes (and Brian’s teaching does this all the time) but they are best thought of as separate systems to avoid confusion.
You could think of it as layers.
Layer 1 might be a A chord played in the E shape. Layer 2 might be a major pentatonic in pattern 2 or a minor pentatonic in pattern 1. Layer 1 helps you orientate to the underlying harmony and shows you where all the chord tones are. It also helps you ‘tie’ licks and embellishments to underlying chords – so that you can memorise them easily and move them all over the fretboard.
Hope that helps.
Imagining the low B string existing on your guitar makes what I said make perfect sense as it applies to the use of a partial G-Shape “ahla Hendrix” because that lower string isn’t used. It is the same exact grouping of notes that is down at the second fret in a six note box shape on 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings. Just play both groups of six notes and you will see it is the exact same box of six notes in another place on the neck at frets . It just so happens that is bottom part of pattern #3 of the major pentatonic scale. Yes, I know some call it pattern #2 of the major pentatonic scale, but the bottom line is the note grouping is exactly the same in both places. Therefore it is indeed the G-Shape major pentatonic pattern (without the lower string!). You’ll see it, and when you do, you can thank me later.
Really cool Brian, Lots to play around with here. Really like when you do rhythm and lead together like this.
So Neat! And I am still having fun with last weeks Delta Blues.
Another fine lesson, LOVE the micro lessons. Thank you Brian!
Love it Brian
Been a member for a while Brian finally its clicking together , great lesson thank you
Excellent explanation and breakdown, so cool.
Yes Brain a very cool lesson full of ideas on how to avoid boring cowboy chords. Love this.
Thanks.
What a terrific foundational ML to noodle around with. So many directions to take. I even started messing around with the c shape for the 5 chord.
Great lesson. Straight to my favorites.
Brian, nicely done lesson. This is pure gold for a beginner and great reinforcement for a more advanced player.
It never ceases to amaze how many good licks hide in plain sight. You do a great job of illuminating them.
I love the micro lessons with an occasional EP. Thank you!
Chord embellishments that lead to and target the next chord would be awesome. I know to target the root or the third of the next chord is the key but how to get there ………?
Such. a helpful lesson! Thanks so much Brian. Everything is so useful and a fun exercise to improve our rhythm techniques. THANKS Again, Tim
Great lesson another eye opener. More like this please. Thanks
Excellent exercise.
It is not just about a rhythm pattern or technique ;
with a bit of mastery, it paves the way for the “call and response” technique, and allows you to jam with yourself.
Thanks a lot for that.
Light Bulb City! Super practical and musical and just what I needed on this wonderful journey.. Thanks Brian
Following you for so long now and it is still so interesting to see what I still can learn….
A little brilliance goes a long way.
These lessons are gold!
Essential for me to learn. Just like ML145 is!
Thanks, Brian!
SF
On the first lesson i have no you tube so there is no lesson?
I don’t understand what you mean by having no YouTube. Is it blocked? Disable any VPN that may be running and try a different browser and see if that doesn’t resolve.
❤️