For The Advancing Guitarist
this page is in development - break it down for sophistication
The following chart can help unlock new ways to add sophistication to your playing.
The chart does however have a lot of overlapping terms that can make it quite confusing.
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What follows is a practical walk through and approach to practicing ideas from these diagrams to get the most out of them.
Starting with the diagram on the top left -
this so called A shape is the major barre
chord shape with the root note on the 5th
string and 3rd string.
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Since this is the shape of a chord, the notes
then become arpeggios because they are
chord tones - which makes them the sweet
tones when played against the chord.
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When you memorize this shape, you will also be memorizing an arpeggio structure for every key by simply moving the position of the root note.
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The practice - develop specific lines from the shape. Skip strings, use repetition and technique to garner as many "recordable" lines from this pattern. Start with short 4 to 5 note lines first. Do not at this point deviate from the shape.
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In the third position as shown, the shape provides the notes C, G, C, E, G ... which incorporates the 1-3-5 major chord structure C-E-G. The takeaway is that regardless of the note names, this shape will provide the 1-3-5 tones relevant to the key you are playing in. The lines you develop are moveable. Make them sweet, it is so worth the effort. Slow and simple with meaning at first.
Hear the value of every note you play.
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