jan's Lesson page
lesson 1Hi Jan! Welcome to your lesson page. The very thing you needed to catapult you into guitar fame and stardom! Finally. You made it:)
Lets jump right in: I wrote out a few classic flat picking licks for you to check out. They are all in the key of G and you'll get a lot of use out of them. I go over them pretty well in the video, but things to remember: Warm up with your G major pentatonic and G bluegrass scales, and start slow with good down up picking! Good luck and have fun, z |
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Jan Lesson 2
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Hey Jan! Here are the G minor pentatonic with and without the b5. Another color for your flat picking! Also a link to a good version of the Autumn Leaves Melody and I made you a play along track by looping the chord changes here in the studio. Once you get the melody down, you can practice playing along with the chords. We can also use it once we start diving into some solo concepts. Have fun! z
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LESSON 3Hi Jan! It's CAGED time. The idea here is to organize the vertical major scales on the guitar into 5 positions based on the open chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D. Some of the patterns will look familiar. I included the fingerings in the tab/chart because they are different than the fingerings i learned when I learned the scale positions. Less stretching and more position shifting. Either way works, but I'm liking these fingerings and how easy they are to play. Practice each shape by finding the arpeggio (chord tones) in the shape and playing them up and down a few times. Then play the whole scale over the shape so you get used to seeing how it lines up with the chord tones! Have fun and let me know if you've got any questions.
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LESSON 4
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Hey Jan! So two main things for this lesson. The minor pentatonic flatpicking lick and the bridge to wildwood flower. I think you'll be able to get both from the vid, but if you need a chart, let me know! Make sure you practice both very slowly and get your right hand picking directions correct. Good luck and have fun! Z
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Lesson 5
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Hey Jan! We're talking 7th chords. The video and the sheet music are some common 1st position voicings for the 7th chords of Autumn Leaves. Things to know about 7th chords: They are four note chords containing a triad and a 7th. A major 7th chord is a major triad with a major 7th. So in the key of C it would be C, E, G, B. A dominant seventh chord (V7) is a major triad with a minor (flat) 7th. A C7 chord would be C, E, G, Bb. A minor 7th chord is a minor triad with a minor (flat) 7th. A Cmin7 chord would be C, Eb, G, Bb. A half diminished 7th chord (min7 b5) is a diminished triad with a minor (flat) 7th. A Cmin7b5 chord would be C, Eb, Gb, Bb. Check out these common voicings and try them while you play Autumn Leaves. Have fun Jan. See you soon, Z
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lesson 6
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Jan! We're talking about modes today. There are 7 modes. One mode for each note in the major scale. I have them all written out for you in the document. The main idea here is that the modes are constructed by taking the major scale and starting it at different places. For example a D Dorian mode is a C major scale from D to D. Another example: A E phrygian mode is a C major scale from E to E. When you start at different places, you get a different order of whole steps and half steps - which gives each mode its individual color. Try playing a D Dorian mode over a D drone. Next try playing a G Mixolydian mode over a G drone. See how they sound! The other thing to grasp is that each mode goes with the chord on the corresponding scale degree. So in the key of C: D dorian would go with the ii chord of d minor. G Mixolydian would go with the V chord of G7. Good luck and have fun! See you in a few days, z
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lesson 7
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Hi Jan! Today I wrote you a couple of licks for Autumn Leaves. They're pretty straight forward eighth note licks. See if you can play them and analyze them to see how they outline the harmony! What scale? What arpeggio? One thing to remember is that in these kinds of lines the chord tones are often placed on the down beats ( beats 1 2 3 and 4) while the passing tones are placed on the off beats (the "ands"). Our brains seem to put more emphasis on downbeat notes for some reason! Have fun, see you soon, z
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LESSON 8
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Jan! This lesson we're focusing on putting the bass with the melody. The bass (or lowest sounding note) usually plays the root of the chord (if its a G chord, the bass will play a G). Here is an arrangement of "Hey Jude" so you can get a feel for it. The song is in G major and has simple G, C, and D chords. Don't worry about the chords, just play the bass notes with the melody and change bass notes when the chord changes. Don't worry too much about fingerings. Just try to play it slow and get a sense of bass movement while a melody is happening. It's fun!! See you Monday. Have a great weekend.
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