Musical Meditations for Guitar - A Simple Beginners System

A section on reading guitar tablature. Essentially, this is the only theory you will need for the course. Many of you will already know how to use TAB and can skip if necessary. But for those who don't, this section is going to be useful. Not as much fun as the rest of the course, but nonetheless necessary.

Part 2 of the Tablature reading section.

Into the music with Track 1's rhythm. Here we are in the key of C Major/A Minor and we are outlining the chords of C and G. We also have a separate melody to be shown in the next lesson.

This is the melody section for track 1

Here we are in the key of C Major/A Minor again but concentrating more on a minor (sad) sound. We move between the two note shapes, taken from our triads, of A Minor and G Major. Then up to some different inversions. Next some partial power chords, finishing with the octave of our first shapes.

Track 3 is based around our humble E Major Chord. But we are using the E Dominant Phrygian mode from A Harmonic Minor to give us our melody. This creates a mysterious, Spanish type sound. Favoured in Classical music also, it reminds me of travelling through the desert.

We have a rhythm and a melody for this track. Here we are still in C Major/A Minor key but we are in the Lydian Mode. It has a dreamy and floaty sound to it and is a favourite of players like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. We are working around a chord progression of F major/ Fb5 to A minor/A minor+9, we also have a melody in the Lydian vibe.

Anyone enjoying these sounds and wanting to know more about the modes, should check out my course 'Pure Modal Magic'.

This is the melody section for track 4

This is a funky journey into E Pentatonic Scale and E Blues Scale. Essential knowledge for any Blues Hounds, Rockers or Funksters. Again, it is your choice to learn without theory or check out the summary at the end of the course, to see what you 'accidentally' learned!

If you enjoy this kind of sound, my bestselling course 'Pure Pentatonic Power', would be a good follow up for you.

Track 5 Part 2

In track 6 we learn some full triad shapes, essentially giving us A minor, C major, G major and F major chords. These are extremely useful. We also have some power chords following the chord progression and then a huge melody in A minor scale, that includes a harmony at the bottom of the PDF. The course is getting a little bit trickier now.

More full triad shapes, as these are so valuable when playing guitar. This time over the E,B and G strings. Then again into power chords and another melody to finish. This time we have a happy melody in the style of bands like Thin Lizzy, so a Celtic feel and a harmony introduced at the end (included at the end of the Tab).

This is the harmony section for track 7

Track 8 is based around an E Minor add 9 and B7 chords  idea, with a little Neo-classical influence in there. We begin with the chords and then head into a picked part that is based in E Harmonic Minor Scale. This is the prettiest of all the tracks I believe!

Track 9 has a lot going on. We begin with some picked arpeggiated chords based around an A Minor and A Suspended 4th Chords, with a alternating C Major/C Mayor 7th and G Major/G Suspended 4th. We then move into a classic rock technique of moving power chords and diads under a repetitive bass note ( Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Iron Maiden, AC/DC).

Next we have a melody idea with a chromatic descending bass note (Led Zeppelin, Beatles). And we end with a melody using C Major/A Minor key that utilises 4 triads - C, Dm, G, Am.

Track 9 Part 2

These track starts with a droning string riff, using the E Minor Scale. Using the Low E, A and D strings we create a bass shifting bass note whilst paying a melody on top, giving an illusion of more than one guitar. Very popular with bands ranging from Kings of Leon and The Cult to Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age.

We also have some shifting diads (two note chords/harmony) played, again, over an open string (G), creating some interesting harmonic landscapes. Then into pure power chords, in an Iron Maiden style, finishing with some big open chords.

Track 10 Part 2

These videos are to conclude the course and just outline the chords and scales used in the tracks. This part is for those who want to know what they learned and you are not obliged to use it if you are happy without this knowledge.

What was learned Part 2