Introducing Soloing, Pt. I - Song Lists

When teachers introduce the concept of soloing to students they are often stuck with how to proceed. Guitar solos can run the gamut from playing a single note melodic line to something complex which involves many techniques (bends, hammer-on's, pull-off's, finger tapping, etc...). 

One of the best things a teacher can do is create a list of solo's from songs that students can learn. These solos should be from basic to complex and build upon skills students have already have or will be learning. For example, The Beatles song And I Love Her (solo starts at 1:29) has a simple but effect guitar solo which incorporates a "slide" from one note to another. Students will then not only learn a guitar solo, but learn how to incorporate a practical technique as well. 

If you have suggestions for solos that you teach your students at various levels I'd love to hear about them. Send over your list and I'll post them for everyone. 

Send your list to: theguitarteachingblog@gmail.com 

   

Minor Pentatonic Scales, pt. III - Beginner Licks

Last month I discussed the Minor Pentatonic scale pattern. This month I've created 4 simple guitar licks utilizing the A minor pentatonic scale pattern. Try these simple licks with your students and then have them begin to create their own! Download the licks here. 

The Pentatonic Scale, pt. II - scale fingering patters

 Last month was the first in a series of posts regarding the pentatonic scale and this month I'll continue by delving into fingering patterns. 

It may be a bold statement, but I would venture to say when most guitarists are first introduced to the pentatonic scale through the minor form. The minor pentatonic scale uses five scale tones which can be extracted from a major scale (see last month's post). As an example we will be using A minor pentatonic: A C D E G. 

                        A.                                                                            B.

The five notes of the scale are generally expanded over two octaves spread across the six strings (diagram A). Following "the one finger per fret rule" the fingering pattern of those notes are indicated in diagram B. Many students are introduced to the scale using only the fingering pattern, but students should understand that the finger patterns are not arbitrary! The fingering pattern is used because that's where the notes of the scale are! 

Click here to get a PDF copy of the minor pentatonic scale pattern complete with notation and tab.

Next month I'll explore simple licks students can use to start soloing.