The G minor pentatonic has a great earthy quality that makes it ideal for blues, rock and jazz music. In fact, just about everyone will love this scale. The notes in the G minor pentatonic scale are: 

G – Bb – C – D – F – (G) 

If you play these notes anywhere on the guitar fingerboard you will be playing the G minor pentatonic scale. Here’s the most common fingering pattern for the scale: 

G – using your first finger behind the third fret, sixth string 

Bb – played with the fourth finger, sixth fret, sixth string 

C – first finger, third fret, fifth string 

D – played with your third finger behind the fifth fret, fifth string 

F – first finger, third fret, fourth string
G Minor pentatonic scale pattern 

—————————
—————————
—————————
——————-3—[5]-
———–3—5———–
-[3]—6——————- 

Keynotes indicated as [ ]

Here is the same scale one octave higher: 

———————-[3]-
————–3—6——-
——3—5—————
-[5]———————-
————————–
————————– 

Now for another popular way to play the G minor pentatonic scale: 

———————————
———————————
———————————
————————-3–[5]-
————-1—3—5———
—1—[3]———————- 

Notice how in this instance the first note is not the keynote. Remember it’s vitally important to identify where the keynote is situated in the scale as it will help you transpose the scale into different keys. 

Our next project is to pre-record a background to practice the G minor pentatonic scale over. Many rock and pop songs use chord progressions derived directly from the notes in the pentatonic scale. 

Typical chord progression(s) would be: 

G /// | Bb /// | C /// | D /// || 

or 

G /// | C /// |D /// | C /// || 

One of the key ingredients to creating your own individual style is learning the names of the notes in each scale rather than just learning a fingering pattern. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

So the question is: which scales should we learn and which scales can we drop of at the nearest bus stop? 

High on your priority list should be the minor pentatonic scale. This is the scale most guitar players learn first. The problem is they tend to get it confused with the blues scale which is similar but not the same. 

Minor Pentatonic scale system – F minor pentatonic. 

The notes in the F minor pentatonic scale are: 

F – Ab – Bb – C – Eb – (F) 

If you played these notes anywhere on the guitar fingerboard you would be playing the F minor pentatonic scale. 

Here’s the most common fingering pattern for the scale: 

F – using your first finger behind the first fret, sixth string 

Ab – played with the fourth finger, fourth fret, sixth string 

Bb – first finger, first fret, fifth string 

C – played with your third finger behind the third fret, fifth string 

Eb – first finger, first fret, fourth string 

F Minor pentatonic scale pattern 

————————-

————————-

————————-

—————–1—[3]-

———1—3———–

-[1]—4—————–

 Keynotes indicated as [ ]

 Keynotes are important as they identify the key of the scale pattern when it’s moved around the fingerboard.

Pentatonic scales are five note scales, notice how both the first and last notes of the scale are exactly the same letter name.

Play the scale slowly listening closely to the ’sound’ of each note. when you are ready to move on try playing the next pattern, it’s exactly the same notes only an octave higher.

F minor pentatonic played one octave higher:

———————-[1]-

————–1—4——-

——1—3—————

-[3]———————-

————————–

————————–

Once the octave fingering and the sound of the notes become familiar try playing the original scale, stop for four beats, play the octave version, wait four more beats and then go back to the original version.

Continue practicing like this until everything works on autopilot.

Creating a backing track.

Our next project is to record a backing track that we can practice our scale over.

A good idea is to use power chords derived from the names of the notes in the scale. Therefore any of the following notes will work as keynotes for power chords:

F – Ab – Bb – C – Eb

Typical chord progression(s) would be:

F /// | Ab /// | Bb /// | C /// ||

or

F /// | Bb /// |C /// | Bb /// ||

Make up your own progressions and record them for 5 – 10 minutes. That way you will have plenty of backing track to solo over. If the backing track is too short you will be just starting to develop your ideas and the background will stop.

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course, by clicking here

It all started out fine for the first two weeks but on my third lesson disaster struck. I had forgotten one of the chords from the previous lessons. This started me thinking, “How will I ever remember all these chords?” 

You probably have had similar experiences. But what if there was an easier way to learn and remember chords? The good news is there are heaps of ways to learn chords. Here is just one of them. It’s called the Keynote Chord System: 

Concept: Each chord has a keynote, also referred to as the root note. Essentially this is the note the chord takes its name from. Hence the name “keynote”. 

Let’s take a look at a D major chord 

D

–2—

–3—

–2—

–0—

–x—

–x— 

The keynote for this D chord shape is on the second string, third fret, marked [ ].

D

–2—

-[3]–

–2—

–0—

–x—

–x— 

By applying a chromatic scale to our keynote chord system concept we can play many chords without changing chord shape. It works like this: 

Chromatic scale: A – A#/Bb – B – C – C#/Db – D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A 

I know it looks complicated but you can create your own chromatic scale by selecting any note. In this instance I began on the note ‘A’ open, fifth string and proceeded to play every note on that string (playing along the string – linear fashion) until I reached the next note ‘A’ on the twelfth fret, fifth string. 

Think of the chromatic scale as an endless loop whereby you can start at any point,  and play all the notes in succession until you reach the note with the same letter name you began on. There you have the chromatic scale. 

Some samples: 

The ‘A’ chromatic scale – starting on the note ‘A’ 

A – A#/Bb – B – C – C#/Db – D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A 

The ‘D’ Chromatic scale – starting on the note ‘D’ 

D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A – A#/Bb – B – C – C#/Db – D 

The ‘F’ chromatic scale – starting on the note ‘F’ 

F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A – A#/Bb – B – C – C#/Db – D – D#/Eb – E – F 

Notice how each scale contains the same notes, only starting from different points in the scale. 

Back to the D chord shape, since we are using the chord of D we will use the D chromatic scale as a reference. 

The ‘D’ Chromatic scale – starting on the note ‘D’ 

D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A – A#/Bb – B – C – C#/Db – D 

Application: Since the keynote for a ‘D’ chord would be the note ‘D’ and we already know it is on the second string, third fret, if we moved the D shape up one fret higher the keynote would be D# or Eb (the second note in the D chromatic scale). 

Therefore we would name the chord D# or Eb 

D# / Eb

–3—

-[4]–

–3—

–x—

–x—

–x— 

Notice how I’m only playing three notes not the usual four, this is because the open string is not moving therefore it would not be correct. 

More examples: 

Keynote E – second string, fifth fret 

E

–4—

-[5]–

–4—

–x—

–x—

–x—

Keynote F – second string, sixth fret 

F

–5—

-[6]–

–5—

–x—

–x—

–x— 

Keynote F# / Gb – second string, seventh fret 

F# / Gb

–6—

-[7]–

–6—

–x—

–x—

–x—

Keynote G – second string, eight fret 

G

–7—

-[8]–

–7—

–x—

–x—

–x— 

All I’m doing is moving consecutively through the D chromatic scale and using the same easy chord shape to create heaps of chords effortlessly. 

I invite you to try these simple shapes next time you are playing your guitar. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

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Johnny Cash style chord progressions: 

Most of Johnny’s songs are three chord tunes. Notice I didn’t say simple three chord tunes. Cash regularly turns three chord progressions into storytelling masterpieces, Here’s how. 

I’ll use “I Walk The Line” for our project.  Let’s play it in the key of A. 

A three chord song in the key of A usually refers to the chords of A, D & E(7). These chords are the 1st, 4th & 5th chords in that key. 

Key of A 

Chord 1 = A 
Chord 4 = D 
Chord 5 = E(7) 

A

—0—–

—2—–

—2—–

—2—–

—0—–

—x—–

D

—2—–

—3—–

—2—–

—0—–

—x—–

—x—–

E7

—0—–

—0—–

—1—–

—0—–

—2—–

—0—–

Most experienced guitar players would feel pretty confident playing three chord songs. After all they are fairly basic so there shouldn’t be too many surprises here! That’s where Johnny catches a lot of players nappin’! 

Usually a three chord song begins and ends on the “1″ chord. One of Johnny’s songwriting tricks is to begin on the “5″ chord and then proceed to the “1″ chord, which is quite the opposite to standard three-chord songwriting. Then again, there’s nothing “standard” about Cash’s songs. 

Take a close look at “I Walk the Line” and you will see what I mean.

“I Walk the Line” – Key Of “A” 

E7/// | E7/// | A/// | A///| E7/// | E7/// | A/// | A///|

D/// | D/// | A/// | A///| E7/// | E7/// | A/// | A///|| 

How to learn this song quickly:

Tip 1: the first four bars are the same as the second four bars. 

Tip 2: the first four bars are used again to form the last four bars. 

Summary although “I Walk The Line” is a sixteen bar song there are only two four bar chord sequences to learn. 

Chord sequence 1: E7/// | E7/// | A/// | A///| 

Chord sequence 2: D/// | D/// | A/// | A///| 

Then there’s Cash’s trademark alternating bass: 

No Johnny Cash song would be complete without the alternating bass part. Once you have memorized the chord progression try adding the bass.

Alternating bass for “A” chord would be… 

Beat one: fifth sting open 

Beat two: strum the A chord from the fourth string to the first string

Beat three: play the sixth string open 

Beat four: strum the A chord from the fifth string. 

Remember to leave your fingers in the A chord formation while you play your bass notes. 

Alternating bass for “E7″ chord would be… 

Beat one: sixth string open 

Beat two: strum the E7 chord from the fifth string to the first string 

Beat three: play the fifth string 

Beat four: strum the E7 chord from the fourth string. 

Remember to leave your fingers in the E7 chord formation while you play your bass notes. 

Alternating bass for “D” chord would be… 

Beat one: fourth string open 

Beat two: strum the D chord from the third string to the first string 

Beat three: play the fifth string open 

Beat four: strum the D chord from the fourth string. 

Remember to leave your fingers in the D chord formation while you play your bass notes. 

I invite you to add some Johnny Cash’s songs to your guitar playing repertoire they will work nicely in just about any jam session or performance. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

An effective introduction leads seamlessly into the song leaving no question in the singers mind as to when they should begin singing. Unfortunately, many times the guitarist uses this opportunity to show off his or her latest bag of hot licks and tricks–predictably with disastrous results.  Here’s a simple yet effective way to create interesting and exciting introductions without distracting the audience from the main theme, which is the story the singer is telling. 

Remember music is about storytelling; not hot licks! 

Step 1. 

Let’s say we have a song in the key of C major. The first step is to select a chord that leads naturally into the C chord. Notice I said a chord that leads “into” C. If we begin on a C chord our introduction will be “as dull as dishwater”. 

The obvious chord to introduce the C chord would be the fifth chord in the key of C major: G7. 

Check this out for yourself. Play a G7 chord. Let it ring for four beats and then play a C chord. Listen to how the two chords flow naturally together. 

Step 2. 

Select the scale that accurately defines the musical mood of the G7. In this instance the scale would be G Mixo-Lydian mode. 

G Mixo-Lydian contains the following notes: G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G. As you can see the notes of the G Mixo-Lydian mode are the same notes as the notes that naturally occur in the C major scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) only arranged in a different sequence. 

Step 3. 

Use the unique open string qualities of the guitar to create a ‘harp like’ effect that will intrigue the listeners and lead them gently into the song. Since it’s more common to hear a scale being playing ascending, let’s start by playing our Mixo-Lydian scale descending. 

G Mixo-Lydian descending: G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G 

Oksy.  That’s more interesting than ascending but we’ll need more mystery to captivate our listener’s ear. Changing the texture of certain notes in the scale by using open strings will do the trick nicely. 

Try the following to create a descending G Mixo-Lydian mode using the cascading scale approach:

Play the note ‘G” on the second string 8th fret. Pull off to the note ‘F’, second string 6th fret. Now play the note ‘E’ first string open. 

Over to the third string seventh fret for the note ‘D’, pull off to the ‘C’ third string, fifth fret and then play the note ‘B’ second string open. 

Finally, play the ‘A’ note on the fourth string, seventh fret and finish on the ‘G’ open third string. 

This is how it would look on the guitar fretboard: 

G Mixo-Lydian mode descending: 

———–0—————————

–8—6—————-0—————

—————7—5———–0——-

—————————7———–

—————————————

—————————————

 G    F    E    D    C   B   A   G 

Compare that cascading sound to the standard way of playing … 

Standard G Mixo-Lydian mode (descending version): 

—————————————

–8—6—-5—————————

—————7—5—4—————

—————————7—5——-

—————————————

—————————————

 G    F    E    D    C   B   A   G 

For best results with the cascading scale leave your finger on the ‘F’ note while playing the ‘E’ open note; then, when you get to the ‘C’ note leave your finger on the ‘C’ while playing the ‘B’ note and finally leave your finger on the ‘A’ note while playing the ‘G’. 

The idea is to create tension be causing a bittersweet dissonance between the last fretted note and the next open string note. 

Finally here is your introduction: 

Play one strum on ‘G7′, followed by your cascading version of the G Mixo-Lydian mode; then the first chord of your song ‘C’ chord and you are on your way! 

By re-thinking basic musical raw materials you will discover countless ways to play creative guitar. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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Each chord is made up of specific notes in much the same way as each word in our English language has a specific spelling. While the majority of guitarists focus their attention on the left hand fingering of the chord, it’s vitally important to have the right hand playing the correct notes also. 

Almost every day I come across guitarist who has been playing the guitar for years — some playing longer than I’ve been alive! But no matter how long some of these people have been playing they still play incorrect notes in their chords. 

Generally speaking it’s the incorrect bass notes in their chords that seem to be the most pressing problem. In fact many of their problems stem from what I would call incorrect or partially correct information. 

For example, contrary to the majority of popular chord books on the market a “D” major chord in the open position is not a five string chord — not if you want to get the sound of the guys and gals on the recordings! 

Here’s the best way to quickly clean up your chords and give your ears a chance to hear how these chords should really sound. 

I’ll use all open chords for my examples:

1. Any “A” chord should be a five string chord omitting the sixth string. 

2. Any “B” chord would be a played with five strings omitting the sixth string. 

3. Any “C” chord should be a five string chord omitting the sixth string. 

4. Any “D” chord should be a four string chord omitting the fifth and sixth strings. 

5. Any “E” chord would be a played with six strings. 

6. Any “F” chord should be a four string chord omitting the fifth and sixth strings.

7. Any “G” chord would be a played with six strings. 

What I mean by ‘any’ “A” chord is that regardless of the chord being an “A” major, “Am” (minor), or A7 (dominant seventh), etc., the guitarist would still only play five strings remembering to omit the sixth string. 

Similarly, any type of “D” chord would be played as a four string chord; any type of “E” chord would likewise be played as a six string chord. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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I thought the best approach would be to test out his theoretical knowledge as physically he was doing well. “Do you know how many sharps are present in the key of  A?”, I asked the guitarist. From the look on the guy’s face you could tell he had no idea whatsoever about what I was talking about. As we spoke more about his approach to guitar playing, I discovered that this chap spent most of his time sitting in front of guitar videos copying everything. The problem with this “monkey-see, monkey-do” style of learning is that, no matter how you look at it, you can’t possibly learn everything you need to know about music from a one-hour video. 

Which brings me to the point: 85% of guitar players totally shoot themselves in the foot by not taking the time to learn the basics of the language of music. Our guitar playing friend never passed the band auditions because he wasn’t flexible in his skills i.e., because he was (a) unaware of what it was that he was playing and (b) unable to adapt to the singers request to change the key of the song. He was basically a well-trained, unemployable robot! 

Here’s something everyone needs to know if you want to progress as a guitarist: key signatures. The term “key signature” refers to the number of sharps or flats required to play in a certain key correctly. Each key has a specific number of sharps or flats that all good musicians know by heart. The problem is remembering how many sharps of flats go with which key. 

The solution: Use sonic shapes to help you visually remember your key signatures. 

Tip #1. The following note sequence will help you accurately remember the names of the sharp keys: 

Starting from the first string play the following notes: 

1st string, third fret = G

2nd string, third fret = D

3rd string, 2nd fret = A

4th string, 2nd fret = E

5th string, 2nd fret = B

6th string, 2nd fret = F# 

Tip #2. The string number will also help you recall the number of sharps contained in each key e.g., the key of ‘D’ is on the second string. Therefore it contains two sharps. The key of ‘B’ is on the fifth string. Therefore that key must contain five sharps. 

See how easy that is? 

Tip #3. To learn the names of the sharps contained in each key simply go back one fret from the name of the key as follows. Key of ‘G’ is on the first string. Therefore it contains one sharp and the name of that sharp is F# — the note one fret back from the ‘G’ note. As each scale progressively adds more sharps to the previous scale we work out the progressive number of sharps like this. 

Another example: 

The key of ‘A’ is on the third string. Therefore it must contain three sharps. They are F# one fret back from the note ‘G’ on the first string, C# one fret back from the note ‘D’ on the second string, and G# one fret back from the note ‘A’ on the third string. 

Once you learn the visual layout of the key signatures on the fretboard you will never forget them or get them confused, which means 100% correct notes when you play music on your guitar. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course

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Today’s music buying public tend to “listen with their eyes” so if you want to learn guitar fast you need to develop your ability to focus on the audio and develop your musical perception skills. Learning how to bypass the visual presentation and quickly notice the similarities in the music is an essential skill for the advancing guitarist.

While the majority of guitarists will be either confused or discouraged with the information they are learning from TAB or sheet music you will be able to mentally pigeon-hole songs as you hear them; making it a breeze to remember and instantly recall songs.

To illustrate my point, here are three songs that on the surface all appear to be different: different artists, different music, styles — even different video clips!

However, dig a little deeper and you will discover they are all based on the blues, the same blues chord progression and even the same key. How’s that for high speed memorization? Three songs in an instant; just add guitar!

Here we go:

Michael Jackson’s – Black or White

E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |

A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |

B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||

Keith Urban’s – Somebody like You

E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |

A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |

B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||

Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Night Time is the Right Time

E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// |

A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// |

B7/// | A /// | E /// | E /// ||

One of the biggest issues to overcome is how music is often stereotyped by the music marketing people in an effort to create soaring sales. When you think of the blues what visual image comes into your head? For many it’s some smokey bar in New Orleans or a Jazz band playing in a nightclub in New York.

The last thing that would cross many guitarist’s mind would be how the blues could have an influence on a pop or country song but, as you can see, the blues is a universal language that can speak to all audiences and age groups.

Sometimes the newbie guitarist does not notice the similarities because a song is preformed in a different key.

Ray Charles plays “The Night Time is the Right Time” in the key of Eb.

Ray Charles – The Night Time is the Right Time

Eb /// | Eb /// | Eb /// | Eb /// |

Ab /// | Ab /// | Eb /// | Eb /// |

Bb7/// | Ab /// | Eb /// | Eb /// ||

Can you see the similarities? Would you have noticed that?

There are thousands of other songs that use exactly the same blues chord progressions and even more songs will be added to the list over time as songwriters continue to utilize this proven musical form.

Keep your ears wide open and you will have much more fun playing the guitar.

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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But what if there was a way to improve your picking technique in less time than you thought possible? Here’s the good news: there are lots of ways to develop picking accuracy.  

Here are just three: 

1. Tremolo Practice. 

This involves alternate picking which is simply picking: down, up, down, up etc. The trick is to practice very s-l-o-w-l-y so you can develop a feel for the string; use a medium to heavy pick. This is a great way to practice your tremolo picking is while you are watching TV. 

2. Mirror Practice.  

Practice you guitar in front of a mirror with the mirror focused on your picking hand. Look only at the mirror; not your picking hand. Start by selecting a number between one and six; next look at your picking hand in the mirror and try to play the string you wanted to play. Practice slowly. We want to get a clear picture of where our strings are in our mind’s eye. Remember that speed is a by-product of accuracy.

3. Target Practice. 

This is a variation of mirror practice; once you can do this exercise accurately you won’t have any trouble finding your strings without looking. Look straight ahead — not at the strings.Pick a number from one to six. 

Try to find that string without looking at the guitar. Remember that string 1 is the string nearest the floor and string 6 is the string at the top. In the beginning you probably won’t be able to recognize the sound that each string produces so it’s a good idea to check your work by going through each string one by one to see which string you did actually play. You do this by placing a finger of your picking hand on each string until you find the string that is vibrating. 

If you intended to play the third string but you accidentally played the fifth string you know that you have to adjust the targeted string in your mind’s eye by aiming closer to the floor in order to correctly play the third string. 

As you get better in your ability to play the targeted string without looking at your picking hand the next step is to play the correct string twice in a row, then three times, then four, then five; up to ten correct performances without looking. 

Try this exercise for a few days and you will be pleasantly surprised how quickly your picking accuracy improves!

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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Unfortunately, today’s current crop of guitar players rely so heavily on visual reference units e.g., electronic guitar tuners to tell them if their guitar is in tune that their ear (audio reference) has become extremely lazy. Once a guitar player plugs into a electronic guitar tuner and verifies that the open strings are at the correct pitch, (according to the visual readout on the screen) the guitar player considers the job of intonation complete. 

A good guitar player is always making slight compensations in intonation to make certain their notes blend musically with the other members of the ensemble. 

When you bend strings you need to be listening attentively to the pitch of each note. Essentially when a string is bent the pitch of the note is raised. How far and how accurately the pitch is raised depends on the skill of the guitarist. 

Take a moment to consider how a violinist or a trumpet or trombone player must accurately pre-hear the pitch of the next note they are about to play.

If a trumpet player simply pressed a valve down and hoped for the best any number of notes would pop out of their horn. Guitar players need to learn the exact same skills as other instrumentalists. 

Here’s how we would develop our intonation skills. 

1. Use a familiar set of notes – the major diatonic scale is an ideal place to start as we already know the sound of this scale. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “major diatonic” scale, it’s the … do, ray, me, fa, so, la, te, do scale most people learn on their school recorder, fife or at piano lessons.
    
2. Play the scale at a  familiar pitch. The major diatonic scale in the key of “C” is the most common pitch musicians learn when they are beginning to learn a musical instrument.
    
3. Practice bending semitones. A semitone is the musical distance of measurement from one fret to the next. The idea is to learn to correctly bend semitones before trying to play larger musical intervals on the guitar.
    
4. Play the first four notes of the C major diatonic scale on the third string as follows:

   C – 3rd string, fifth fret, D – 3rd string, seventh fret, E – 3^rd string, ninth fret and F – 3rd string, tenth fret.

   Play the scale very slowly, paying close attention to the sound of each note. The semi-tone exists between the notes E & F.

   Next, play the same series of notes only bending the “E” note to the “F” note. Like this … pick the note C, pick the note D, pick the note E and bend the string until it sounds the pitch of the note F.

   Repeat this process of playing C, D, E, F listening to each note carefully then repeat this note sequence bending between to the notes E and F. 

You can develop this exercise further by playing the remaining notes of the C major diatonic scale on the second string and bending between the notes “B” and “C”. 

As you refine these important skills your solos will sound much more professional and musical. I invite you to use these tips and tools when you play the guitar. 

About the Author:
Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular FREE e-course.

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