Why learn music theory? It makes your knowledge of the guitar transportable. Discover a cool sound in one place on the fretboard and quickly figure out how to play it in a different position or key. Instead of just memorizing where to put your fingers, see the underlying patterns. Understanding the logic behind the music you love will make you a better, more versatile guitar player.
Bored of soloing with the major scale or the minor pentatonic? Looking for something new to help expand your musical palette? The Mixolydian mode might just be the thing. This mode can be a great tool for improvising in blues, jazz, rock, or practically any other style.
Have you ever improvised using a tried-and-true scale—only to hit a note that just doesn’t sound right once a chord change comes along? Here’s a remedy for this common problem: By targeting the notes of a given tune’s chord progression, you can create solos that sound more copacetic.
As you practice your scales, it’s good to remind yourself of the function of the individual notes of those scales. Here we start with open-position scales taken from the chord progression for "Autumn Leaves."
The music in most guitar books and magazines is written in standard notation and tablature. Here's how to read standard guitar notation and guitar tabs.
