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The Complete One-Octave Major Scales Guitar Series

Good day everyone, today I’ve put together all the lessons from the “One-Octave Major Scale Guitar Series” into one complete lesson. It doesn’t matter if you start from scratch or if you’ve already gone through all the lessons from the last couple of weeks, now is your chance to pick up your guitar, take this valuable guitar lesson of the one-octave major scale patterns and work on it every day. It will definitely make you a better guitar player.

Guitar students usually first learn two-octave scales, but one-octave scales are the building bricks of those two-octave scales and have their own effective purpose that will serve your playing in many ways.

Why You Want to Learn One Octave Scales

One of the reasons you want to learn one-octave scales is because of their simplicity. By using only one octave it’s easier to see the shape and structure of the scale, the notes within the scale, and the intervals. The scale is more user-friendly, easier to play, memorize and apply around the fretboard.

There’s another great benefit to learning one-octave scales. Once you got them under your fingers it’s only a matter of connecting the dots to lay out two octave and three-octave scales, since they are made up of one-octave scales.

Note: In this lesson you will learn one-octave major scale shapes across the entire guitar neck that will help you understand and own the entire major scale landscape.

Starting from the Root Note

We’re learning the three major scale shape/patterns with the first (root) note starting on the Low E-string (6th string), A-string (5th string), D-string (4th string) and the G-string (3rd string). For each string starting point we have three different patterns, which are all one and the same scale with the same notes, all starting from the same root note.

Tip: Learn and memorize the notes for each string so you know the notes and recognize the key of the scale when you move the scale up or down the fretboard. This will benefit your playing tremendeously now and in the long run.

How to Simplify Your Guitar Process

By Klaus Crow 13 Comments

Sometimes the hardest part of practicing is starting. It’s the “thought” of having to practice that gets in the way, not practicing itself. Feelings of resistance arise and you trying to justify the art of not practicing translates in words like “I am too busy”, “I am too tired”, or “it’s too late” or “it’s too much now” and the list goes on and on.

We say there are more important things that have to be done before we can play guitar, but isn’t that always the case. There is always something more important, something more urgent, but in reality it’s nothing more than an excuse of the mind. There is time, if you want it.

EASY TIME TO PRACTICE

If you really think about it, there is 5 minutes of time to steal in every corner of the day, and 5 minutes of practice add up over time. There are 5 minutes before breakfast, 5 minutes during lunch or 5 minutes after dinner. 5 minutes before you go to school or just 5 minutes after you come back home from work.

You can also cut out the trivial stuff in your life and practice instead. What about 5 minutes less Netflix and 5 minutes less checking your email, Whatsapp or Instagram. You could wake up 5 minutes earlier or shorten the time you need to get the important things done.

You can surely find 5 minutes if you really care about playing guitar. Even if you have only 5 minutes a day, those 5 minutes add up over a week, over a month and over 6 months, especially if you practice with a goal and focus on the task at hand.

The only thing you have to do is stop allowing the thought that gets in the way of picking up your guitar right now. Just grab your guitar and practice.

So now we got that out of the way it’s important to make that practice process as simple and easy as possible, so you won’t have to think about that either.

Best Music Documentaries for Guitar Players

By Klaus Crow 13 Comments

Every now and then I watch a good music documentary or movie to enjoy the incredible stories behind the master guitar players and legendary bands.

The struggles, hardship and passion for playing is really inspiring and insightful for anyone who is a student of the guitar. Today we got a list for you with some of the best music documentaries. Witness the turbulent and expressive lives of these musicians. Follow their love for music, their eagerness, perseverance and lessons learned throughout their journey.

All the guitar players and songwriters faced their own challenges that led to the extraordinary musicians that they have ultimately become. A true pleasure to watch each and everyone of them. Pick your favorites from the list and enjoy.

Have a great one!

What are the Best Documentaries for Guitar Players?

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Rise Of A Texas Bluesman – 2014 (Youtube)
A docu on American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Stevie Ray Vaughan, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock band Double Trouble. He is considered to be one of the most iconic and influential musicians in the history of blues music, and one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Acoustic Uprising (Youtube)
Acoustic Uprising tells the definitive story of Modern Acoustic Guitar, featuring interviews with world class FingerStyle guitarists from around the world, including Tommy Emmanuel, Kaki King, Newton Faulkner, Sungha Jung, Andy McKee and many more. These artists are renowned for their virtuosity on the ubiquitous acoustic guitar, taking the humble instrument to new heights of “astounding virtuosity”.

Keith Richards – Under influence (Netflix)
Under the Influence gives fans unparalleled access to one of the world’s greatest rock stars and the people and sounds that inspired rock ‘n’ roll legend Keith Richards.

Jimi Hendrix – By Those Who Knew Him Best (Youtube)
Jimi Hendrix is unquestionably the greatest guitarist to have emerged during the rock era. This documentary contains exclusive interviews with his closest friends, associates and fellow musicians, which finally reveals what was behind the greatest musical talent of our time.

Eric Clapton – Standing At The Crossroads Documentary (Youtube)
In this documentary feature Eric Clapton is interviewed in depth with contributions from Keith Richards, John Mayall, The Yardbirds, Jack Bruce and many more. It is THE definitive Clapton biography.

Paco de Lucia Documentary (Youtube)
A beautiful portrait of Paco de Lucia. A Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz.

Effective Speed Building Guitar Licks Exercises

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

Practicing speed building exercises on your guitar will improve your technique tremendously. The speed exercises will not just make you play faster, but also your dexterity will advance. Dexterity will create flow, easiness and flexibility on all fronts of your guitar playing.

When you practice the exercises for a while you will find that your fingers will feel lighter and move more fluently across the strings and fretboard as you solo or switch between chords. Guitar playing becomes more effortless.

The exercises in this post all have their own challenges that will develop and improve different parts of your technique. Exercise #1 and #5 are your typical 3 notes-per-string super fast lick that sound really awesome once you get them up to speed, but they’re just as nice to practice slowly or at mid tempo, exercise #4 is a nice blues lick, and others will serve different purposes to enhance your skills. Just try each one of them and explore.

Take it easy, take your time, and as always, enjoy the process!

SPEED BUILDING EXERCISE #1 ( A minor )

Below is a nice fast A minor lick scale run that you can play over an A minor chord or harmony / progression (Am – Bdim – C – D – Em – F – G – Am). Start slow, play every single note clean and clear and only increase your speed when you feel comfortable playing at a slow tempo.

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