THE WHOLE BRAIN SHORTCUT TO

GUITAR MASTERY

A step-by-step guide

By Michael J. Lavery
Text copyright© 2010 Michael J. Lavery

Michael‘s photographs copyright© 2010 Michael J. Lavery

All rights reserved. ISBN 978-0-557-74506-7

Whole Brain Power is the basis for books, classes, seminars, workshops, home study programs, CDs, DVDs, and
videos presented by Michael J. Lavery.

Whole Brain Power book series, First Edition, First Printing, December 2010

Printed and bound in the United States

Note to the reader: The information in this book is written for educational purposes only. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher in
writing, except in the case of brief quotations.

To contact the author of this book, please email: info@thehammerman.net

The Whole Brain Shortcut to Guitar Mastery is based upon concepts that strengthen
the brain and the hands to work in concert with each other. Your coordination
will elevate significantly, and your comprehension of music knowledge will grow
and expand your playing potential.

The program will make your hands, wrists, and fingers much stronger, and as a
result, you will make cleaner sounding chords and riffs. Since the brain becomes
faster at sending signals within the Central Nervous System, the fingers will
increase manual ambidexterity and speed potential, and the results will astonish
you and your friends!

Michael J. Lavery

2
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I appreciate the support of my mom, Beatrice, and my father, Robert, who passed away in
1988. Without the love and support from them I would not have been able to fulfill my
quest. My sincere thanks are extended to my brothers, Peter, Patrick, and James, and to my
sister Mary, for being there through every step of the journey. I respect the wonderful
mother that Diana has been to my four sons, Shawn, Christopher, James, and Steven.

I want to thank Maria for her support in helping with this book. I extend my gratitude
to all of my patrons throughout the years that have allowed me to pursue my creative
endeavors and others who have helped financially to launch Whole Brain Planet. Along the
way, I have met some wonderful folks such as Claude Amesse, Jason Johnson, Bill Mueller,
Bob and Susan Ralston, and Rolly White. My gratitude is extended to Greg Walsh for his
efforts in helping to launch the first two books in the Whole Brain Power series.

Thank you, the reader. You are your own experiment. When you feel the changes in
your improved guitar playing skills, it is comforting to know that it is the result of the brain
actually changing itself and growing anatomical features to aid in your musicianship.

3
 FOREWORD
Last March, 2010, I had lunch with an old friend at a Mexican restaurant, called Las Brisas in
Laguna Beach, California. Steve was one of my best friends in high school, and we hadn‘t
seen each other in many years.

Little did I know that this stroll down memory lane would lead to a mind-boggling
look into the future.

After a leisurely two-hour lunch in which my friend and I caught up on each other‘s
lives, we walked outside to take in the sweeping coastline view from the boardwalk. It was
one of those glittering, postcard-perfect beach days in which any worries or personal to-do
lists melted in the sun, to disappear in salt air.

Standing near us was an artist working on a beautiful oil painting that showed the
crescent-shaped beach and the ocean beyond.

Now, artists and street performers are not an uncommon sight in Southern California,
but something about this particular man caught my attention. I noticed that in addition to
the usual tools of the trade—easel, brushes, paints—he also had a bag with an assortment of
hammers sticking out of it. A three-ring binder stuffed with laminated papers sat on a nearby
table. A closed guitar case on the ground beckoned like Pandora‘s Box.

I couldn‘t help myself and struck up a conversation. What followed next was
something akin to performance art and, as I would tell many people in the following weeks,
―the most fascinating hour I spent this year.‖

The man‘s name was Michael J. Lavery. And, here are some of the things he would
demonstrate to my friend and me that afternoon:

 He took a 24 oz. ball-peen hammer and bounced a golf ball for dozens of hits in a
row—off the rounded end, and this demonstration was performed with each hand. (Try
this yourself, and you‘ll be lucky to get three in a row, and that‘s with your good hand.)

 He took a 12-lb. sledgehammer and held it straight out with his single arm—from the
far end of the handle. (Unless you try this for yourself, it‘s hard to convey how truly
strong you‘d have to be to do this.)

 I assumed that his physique and obvious strength that he manifested was the result of
countless hours in the weight room, but he claimed that he was getting his muscle
mass and density from brain-training exercises that revolved around three basis
principals. To break it down, he claimed to me that penmanship with either hand and
in mirror writing was the top secret. Secondly, he stated that the amazing hand-eye
coordination that he developed with the hammers and golf ball drills changed his brain
and body chemistry. Thirdly, the memorization exercises that increased his Random
Access Memory also attributed to his unusual strength. His forearms seemed
4
 abnormally large, and when I shook his hand, I sensed a grip strength that was highly
unusual. Then, he beckoned me to check out the density of his forearm flexor
muscles. When I did, I was totally amazed.

 He recited pi to hundreds of digits from memory. (Skeptical that he was simply reciting
a ―number salad‖ of random digits, I made him start over and verified the correct
answer by looking at the pi sheet in his binder. After a couple of minutes of flawlessly
recounted numbers, I told him he could stop.)

 He grabbed a sand wedge out of the trunk of his car and bounced a golf ball on its
blade for hundreds of times, just like Tiger Woods in the famous TV commercial.
Except that, as Michael did it—going behind his back and between his legs,
occasionally stopping the ball to spin on the blade—he even trotted around in circles,
weaving in and out of parked cars, as if to say, ―Tiger‘s got nothing on me.‖

 He took a pen and a blank piece of paper and wrote in stunningly elegant penmanship
with each hand . . . and backwards, something known as mirror writing (which turns out
to be one of the secrets of Leonardo da Vinci‘s genius).

 Finally, my curiosity got the best of me, and I asked him to play some guitar. He
played one of his originals, called ―The Renaissance Man,‖ and Steve and I were
thoroughly entertained. When I asked him about his ability to play cover songs, he
said that he knew over 200 classics. ―Are you kidding me?‖ I exclaimed. He played
bits and pieces from some of these all-time favorites, and then I said, ―You know, I
believe you. But, how on earth are you able to do this?‖ Then, he took out a copy of
his published book, called Whole Brain Power, and he said, ―The whole story is right
here.‖

He showed us these things while tourists and locals walked by. Most of the people
barely noticed us. Just another day in the ―land of fruits and nuts,‖ right? Hardly. As I
would soon discover, these weren‘t cool parlor tricks from a street performer trying to show
off. They were tangible proof that previously unimaginable feats of skill could be
accomplished by harnessing the power of the human brain.

But could these feats be duplicated by anyone, or was this ambidextrous freak simply
blessed with savant-like abilities and amazing hand-eye coordination? The answer, it turns
out, is good news for all of us.

As you‘ll discover in the following pages, your brain is not a hard-wired, fixed
machine. It‘s a pliable, moldable, plastic instrument more powerful than any computer ever
built, capable of incredible physical and mental feats you probably thought were possible only
for circus performers and geniuses.

The notion that our brains are changeable for the better is fairly recent in scientific
literature. But it‘s been demonstrated undeniably and remains today one of the most exciting
fields of medical research.

5
 What does this mean for you, the guitar player? Well, banish the terms ―natural,‖
―gifted,‖ ―talented,‖ and ―prodigy‖ from your notion of guitar playing forever. Instead,
realize that you can grow your brain with a few simple drills, just like anyone can grow
muscles by weight lifting.

Great guitarists are not born, they are made. Will you become one of them? The
choice is yours because you now have the tools.

Bill Mueller, San Diego, California

6
 DISCLAIMER
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. The book does not set out to
reinvent the wheel, but simply to point to the wheel that has existed since the dawn of
humankind and provide some ideas on how best to use the wheel, as it was intended.

It is sold with the understanding that the author and contributors are not engaged in
rendering medical, health, or any kind of professional services in the book. The reader
should consult his or her medical, health, or other competent professional for adopting any
of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

Everyone who practices the training methodologies described herein will have results
unique to their efforts and application of the specific training regiments described. It is
strongly advised that anyone desiring to follow these training guidelines (e.g., for penmanship,
memorization, hammer drills) or nutritional guidelines, consult his or her healthcare
professional before doing so. Even under the guidance of a medical professional, one should
always use moderation in learning new skills, especially when attempting to improve one‘s
brain and body.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim for any liability, loss, risk, personal or
otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and
application of any of the contents in this book.

7
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ 3

FOREWORD ................................................................................................................ 4

DISCLAIMER .............................................................................................................. 7

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. 8

PREFACE .................................................................................................................... 14

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 17

THE WBP PROGRAM .................................................................................................................. 17

NEW SKILLS THAT YOU WILL LEARN ............................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED ....................................................................... 20

EVERYONE HAS THE CAPACITY TO BE A VERY GOOD GUITAR PLAYER ..... 20

GET RID OF GUITAR BLOCKS ............................................................................................... 21

WILL THE WHOLE BRAIN INTO ACTION AND KICK IT INTO GEAR ................. 22

HANDS UP! ...................................................................................................................................... 23

THE MENTOR AND THE PROTÉGÉ ANALOGY............................................................ 24

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME WITH YOUR GUITAR PLAYING............................... 24

CHAPTER 2: FORMULAS AND TOOLS FOR BETTER GUITAR PLAYING ... 26

A GENIUS FOR A DAY................................................................................................................ 26

SEVEN WAYS TO ACTIVATE GENIUS POTENTIAL ..................................................... 27

AMBIDEXTERITY AND RAPID GUITAR IMPROVEMENT......................................... 28

IMAGINATION AND VISUALIZATION GROW THE BRAIN ..................................... 29

MEMORY IS THE KEY TO ENHANCED GUITAR PLAYING ..................................... 30

CHAPTER 3: THE SCIENCE AND MUSIC CONNECTION............................... 31

THE MOTOR HOMUNCULUS THEORY ............................................................................. 32

8
 STEROIDOGENESIS FOR IMPROVED BRAIN FUNCTION ....................................... 32

THE BRAIN GYM .......................................................................................................................... 33

BRAIN FACTS FOR GUITAR ENTHUSIASTS ..................................................................... 33

CHAPTER 4: MEMORY METHODS FOR GUITAR NOTES .............................. 34

THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO LEARN HOW TO TEACH ..................................... 38

CHAPTER 5: TALENT IS OVERRATED ............................................................... 41

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BRAIN IS A GREAT START ............................................. 41

DRAWING WITH TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME ................................................... 48

THE TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING EXERCISE PAGE ........... 50

MIRROR WRITING IN THE MEHOD OF LEONARDO DA VINCI ............................ 52

LEFT HANDED MIRROR IMAGE WRITING ................................................................. 52

CHAPTER 6: GETTING BACK TO YOUR MUSICAL ROOTS ............................ 54

GUITAR RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................ 55

LEARN TO STRING YOUR GUITAR PROPERLY ............................................................. 56

TIMING IS EVERYTHING......................................................................................................... 57

LEARNING ALL OF THE NOTES ON THE GUITAR NECK........................................ 58

METHODS OF ORIGINAL AWARENESS TO MEMORIZE THE ENTIRE GUITAR

NECK ................................................................................................................................................. 58

ORIGINAL AWARENESS RELATING TO THE GUITAR NECK ................................ 59

FRETBOARD EXERCISE FOR C MAJOR SCALE ......................................................... 61

FRETBOARD EXERCISE EXAMPLE ................................................................................ 64

LEARN TO WORK THE GUITAR CHARTS WHEN THEY ARE ON THEIR SIDES AS WELL. THIS IS
HOW YOU SEE YOUR GUITAR WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING. .......................................................... 65

AN ORIGINAL AWARENESS STORY FOR REMEMBERING NOTES ...................... 65

FINDING THE TRIAD OF F MAJOR .................................................................................. 67

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 LEARN TO WORK THE FRETBOARD WHEN IT IS VERTICAL AS WELL AS
HORIZONTAL ............................................................................................................................ 68

THE ENTIRE FRETBOARD CHARTED OUT FOR ALL 138 NOTES .................... 68

GUITAR CHORDS ALL GUITARISTS SHOULD MASTER ........................................ 69

THE BASIC SHAPE OF BAR CHORDS .............................................................................. 70

E MINOR BAR CHORD............................................................................................................ 71

POWERFUL HANDS AND FINGERS HELP CREATE AWESOME SOUNDING

BAR CHORDS .............................................................................................................................. 72

D MAJOR OPEN CHORD ........................................................................................................ 73

OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT ............................ 75

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD ............................................................... 76

WORKING ON OUR SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE........................................................... 77

CHAPTER7: THE WHOLE BRAIN POWER APPROACH TO RAPID

IMPROVEMENT ON GUITAR ............................................................................... 78

LEARN BEYOND THE BASICS ............................................................................................... 79

MUSIC THEORY IN A NUTSHELL ......................................................................................... 79

MAJOR MINOR DIMINISHED AND AUGMENTED ....................................................... 80

USING GUITAR FRETBOARD CHARTS TO IMPROVE OUR MEMORY OF NOTES

.............................................................................................................................................................. 82

ALL GUITAR PLAYERS PLEASE HEAR THIS .................................................................... 88

LEARNING GUITAR THEORY WITH BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE PIANO .... 89

THE DEGREES OF THE SCALE.............................................................................................. 91

FIRE UP THE PEN ........................................................................................................................ 92

CHAPTER 8: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE RELATIVES OF THE

CHORD FAMILY ...................................................................................................... 93

NOTES OF THE SCALE OF ―A‖ MINOR .............................................................................. 93

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 MAJOR, MINOR, AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED ..................................................... 96

THE SOUND OF CHORDS ........................................................................................................ 96

INVERSIONS AND FIVE VOICINGS OF THE CHORDS ............................................... 97

CHAPTER 9: LEARNING ABOUT TRIADS AND CHORD CONSTRUCTION

AND SCALES ............................................................................................................. 98

MAJOR, MINOR, DIMINISHED OR AUGMENTED ........................................................ 99

THE FAMILY OF SEVEN CHORDS OF C MAJOR ..................................................... 100

REVIEWING MAKES THIS GUITAR THEORY STICK IN THE BRAIN ................. 100

CHORD POSITION THAT SHOWS OPEN C MAJOR ................................................... 103

THE BASIC OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS ................................................................ 105

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN CONSTRUCTING MINOR CHORDS ................ 106

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS .................................................................................................................... 108

CHAPTER 10: MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES.......................... 110

LEARNING TABLATURE ................................................................................................... 111

THE PEN WORKS THE BRAIN IN THESE EXERCISES .............................................. 116

THE FIVE MAJOR SHAPES OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC

SCALES ....................................................................................................................................... 122

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE 5 SHAPES OF A MINOR

PENTATONIC .............................................................................................................................. 123

FRETBOARD CHARTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE PENTATONIC SHAPES

124

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL ELEVATE YOUR PLAYING ............................ 125

A MAJOR PENTATONIC SHAPE USING THE A MINOR SHAPE ....................... 125

THE INTERCHANGEABLE PENTATONIC SCALES .............................................. 126

E MINOR PENTATONIC ...................................................................................................... 126

THE SUMMARY OF PENTATONIC SCALES EXERCISE ....................................... 127

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 PENTATONIC SCALES SHAPES IN FIVE POSITION .............................................. 128

CHAPTER 11: THE MODES OF THE DIATONIC SCALE ................................ 129

THE DORIAN MODE ................................................................................................................ 132

D DORIAN SCALE FRETBOARD EXERCISE.............................................................. 133

THE DORIAN FRETBOARD CHART EXERCISES .................................................... 136

MIXOLYDIAN MODE ............................................................................................................... 137

ARPEGGIOS FOR THE BLUES .............................................................................................. 141

MIXOLYDIAN SCALE EXERCISES WILL HELP YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY THE

BLUES .......................................................................................................................................... 146

THE AEOLIAN MODE.............................................................................................................. 148

FRETBOARD EXERCISES FOR AEOLIAN SCALES ................................................ 149

THE PHRYGIAN MODE .......................................................................................................... 150

THE LYDIAN MODE ................................................................................................................. 152

LOCRIAN MODE ........................................................................................................................ 153

CHAPTER 12: THE CAGED SYSTEM ................................................................... 154

THE FIVE MAJOR CHORD SHAPES .................................................................................... 155

CAGED SYSTEM ILLUSTRATION ................................................................................... 157

THE BEST FRETBOARD EXERCISES POSSIBLE ........................................................... 159

CHAPTER 13: THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ............................................................. 165

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ...................................................................................................... 166

PRACTICAL WAYS TO PRACTICE USING THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ..................... 166

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 1) ................................................................ 174

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER .............................................................................................. 176

CHORD FORMULA FOR MINOR CHORDS: ..................................................................... 177

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 CHORDS OF A SONG AND THEIR PREDICTABLE PROGRESSION .................... 179

CHAPTER 14: THE 12 BAR BLUES....................................................................... 181

CHANGING KEYS IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN ................................... 184

THE REVIEW CONTINUES ON THE NATURE OF CHORDS AND THE WAY TO

FIND CHORDS IN A SCALE ................................................................................................... 189

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL .......................................................................... 193

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXAMINATION ................................................................... 193

CHAPTER 15: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 194

LET US REVIEW WHAT WE HAVE COVERED .............................................................. 196

ABOUT THE AUTHOR .......................................................................................... 197

13
 PREFACE
This guide is broken down in a very concise manner, and the training methods are very
straight forward. This system is based upon improvement of memory in terms of short-term
information assimilation and direct application to improved guitar playing. This happens in
the program because the practitioner achieves a superior use of the hands and hemispheres of
the brain through ambidexterity training. With enhanced brain power, the guitar neck is
learned for a better understanding of the notes, chords and scales, thus leading to greater
confidence.

This guide inspires the practitioner to learn guitar theory using peg systems (memory
systems) that open advanced playing potential. As a result of practicing the tenets of the
Whole Brain Power (―WBP‖) program, the practitioner will experience improved hand and
finger strength, as well as great potential to fire neurological signals, increasing playing speed.
All this occurs over a very short period of time by following the program.

Instead of working with the former model—that there is a dominant hemisphere, we

are going to relate the brain to a V8 engine. This engine has 8 cylinders, and they all should
fire with equal efficiency. The brain could be compared metaphorically to an organic V8
engine. It is symmetrical in shape, and each side has 4 lobes. If you were to investigate how
to rewire the brain in order to fire as a whole-brain powered organ, you would utilize more of
its potential for almost any application of learning and manifestation of talents.

14
 The idea that, ―the right hemisphere is only creative and intuitive,‖ and ―the left brain
is only logical and deductive in its processing capabilities,‖ will be put to rest in your mind
when you proceed with this course. Your brain has a cable that connects the two
hemispheres, and it is a super information highway system comprised of 250,000,000 wires.
This is referred to as the Corpus Collosum. It is constantly sending signals back and forth to
each side. This highway system actually grows, and it has been documented by many clinical
studies that trained musicians have up to a 10% thicker Corpus Collosum than non-
musicians.

All clinical studies of trained musicians prove that they have enlarged anatomical
features in their brains.

All clinical studies of trained musicians prove that they have enlarged anatomical
features in their brains.

Studies have proven that naturally ambidextrous and left-hand dominant people have
up to a 10% thicker Corpus Collosum as well. The WBP program makes this cable activated
as never before in your life. We will explain the reasons to as why shortly. In the meanwhile,
let‘s paint a picture for you.

Just imagine that you have electrical current running from a power source at your
home or a business office, and the electrical wire systems that that you operate your residence
or facility with cannot handle the job of running your equipment, consequently causing power
failures. Of course, that is why they install circuit breakers in homes and in industrial
buildings. After countless times of hitting the breaker and experiencing work stoppages,
most probably, you would call the electrician, and he would fix your problem.

The electrician would suggest that your facility switch

over to 220 electrical current. Usually, commercial
buildings have this system, whereas residential homes
run with 110 current. Changing the wires and going to
ones that can carry more current efficiently would be
part of the job that the electrician would do.
Sometimes, the electrician will even tell you that you
were fortunate that a fire did not happen because the
wires you had were worn and dangerous.

15
 This analogy is very applicable to the human brain. You have coatings around most of
the wires (or Axon Sheaths) in the brain and also on the wiring that is part of the Peripheral
Nervous System (PNS) (the nerves that extend down from the brain to the limbs). As you
constantly fire up the brain to send signals to the hands and back to the Central Nervous
System (CNS), you are sending electrically charged Ion Particles up and down the insulated
wires. The more that this occurs; the greater the demand for the brain to take action and
grow the Myelin Sheaths around the neural circuits (Axon Sheaths) that are being activated. .

Just as with lifting weights (which is considered ―active stress‖), the muscles grow.
When you do the WBP drills, it is considered active stress for the brain, and as a
consequence, the brain grows too. When you can move your fingers faster, play chords or
riffs, and you can strum and pick the strings with greater skill, it is because you have initiated
greater impulse control potential. This is why the WBP ―outside of the box‖ training
exercises are very beneficial for you in preparing your brain for the demands that excellent
guitar playing requires.

When you read the Whole Brain Power book, practice the tenets of the Whole Brain Power
Workbook, and put serious commitment to this guitar training guide, you will change the way
your brain works, as well as your hands. The program that is promoted in this guide is based
how the training of the hands grows the brain, which in turn leads to better guitar playing.

WHOLE BRAIN POWER

The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body

16
 INTRODUCTION

Looking for a proven course in improving at guitar playing? Are you interested in singing
well along with your guitar? A Whole Brain Power Guitar Enhancement program has been
designed to elevate these skills. It involves simple, yet very effective, exercises that change
the brain and the body to be able to move to the next level of your musicianship.

One of my first suggestions is for you to learn about how the brain can be trained and
how to have more manual dexterity with each hand. This is all provided to you in my book,
Whole Brain Power, The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body.

THE WBP PROGRAM

This WBP program for music enhancement has been designed to allow the practitioner‘s
brain to physically change itself so that this most powerful organ/computer can deliver the
signals and messages to itself, the hands, and vocal chords—all in a very smooth and seamless
manner.

The brain cannot only grow and strengthen its anatomical features, but it also changes
its chemistry. The brain is considered to be a pharmaceutical factory, and it is important to
keep it producing the necessary neurotransmitters and proteins to aid in memory
enhancement.

Without the ability to expand the Random Access Memory (RAM), we would not be
able to continue to learn and improve our cognitive, as well as motor skills. This statement
could not be any truer, as it is applied to the art of playing the guitar.

17
 This WBP program stimulates the practitioner to achieve savant-type skills, which in
turn manifest into a significantly improved memory system for procedures (enhanced skill
with the hands, body, and vocals), as well as intuitive thinking, enhanced imagination, and
creative flow. This occurs because the whole brain is being trained. All along, the capacity
has been there for you, but now you will discover that you have been given the code to enter
the genius zone. It is not ―left brain‖ verses ―right brain‖ thinking and action, but rather
activation of the ―whole brain‖ processing formula.

The WBP program works better than any program out there, and I will stake my
reputation on it. It is simply an irrefutable fact that we are not remotely coming close to
using our full brain potential. One of the main reasons is because we have very little
understanding of the functions of this computer like organ.

If you have not read my Whole Brain Power book and versed yourself on some of the
technical terms of the brain, you would most likely be lost if I started to discuss the function
of the Perkinji fibers in the cerebellum. What if I told you that your glial cell population in
your brain was becoming more activated? Your eyes would glaze over, and you might say,
―Who the heck cares?‖

I will inspire you to care when I enlighten you with basic understandings of the
mechanics on how your brain can become super activated. You will be happy that you
studied the theories in my book.

Science has proven by extensive scanning and peering into the mechanics of the
working brain that the right hemisphere gets way less mileage out of it than the left
hemisphere. When you see the maps of the brain and the neural circuits involved, it becomes
pretty clear that we are very much like a lopsided ape. We can rectify the problem with the
proper education about brain science and methodologies to enhance the Whole Brain Power
activation.

In this WBP program, you will learn not only to think about how you will move your
hands and fingers on the fretboard, but also to have a greater understanding of the notes,
scales and chords all over the entire neck.

NEW SKILLS THAT YOU WILL LEARN

By practicing the WBP program for guitar enhancement, you will learn these new skills:

• Develop awesome flowing penmanship

• Write with both hands at the same time and in opposite directions

• Write with cursive penmanship and speak about another topic simultaneously

• Bounce a golf ball repeatedly off a rubber mallet as you recite lyrics to songs (multi-
tasking drill)

• Verbal recall of lyrics for improved singing performance

18
• Instantly say what any note on the guitar is even without the guitar in hand

• Predict the chord progressions of most popular songs by knowing the first two chords

• Know the proper leads or licks for a song based upon the Key signature

• Know how to construct a chord anywhere on the neck of the guitar

• Play faster and more effectively because of enhanced neurological processing

• Have much stronger fingers to enhance your guitar voicings (bending, hammer-ons,
pull-offs, vibrato, etc.

19
 CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

EVERYONE HAS THE CAPACITY TO BE A VERY GOOD GUITAR

PLAYER

N ow that you have this yearning desire to become a good guitar player, let‘s figure out
how to expedite the process. Some of you even have aspirations of really shredding
on the guitar and playing in a band, or doing solo performances. It may seem like a
foolish dream, but it‘s not.

When the opportunity presents itself, you may get out the guitar for a half hour to
practice. Often times, you put it down in frustration, and your self-doubt creeps into your
mind. You‘re probably aware of what I am saying. In this world of YouTube videos, you are
getting blown away by how many great guitar players there are out there. To play even
remotely close to any of your heroes would be an insurmountable mountain to scale.

If you are right-handed, you look at your LEFT HAND, and you ask yourself, ―Why
is this appendage so spastic?‖ You can‘t even imagine moving your LEFT HAND fingers
with the coordination you witness others exhibiting. You watch somebody‘s ability to do
lightening fast picking or strum with such fluidity, and you shake your head in despair. You
say, ―That will never be me.‖

20
GET RID OF GUITAR BLOCKS

I will give you hope with this program. However, first we must address the reason for any
guitar blocks. At the present, you sense the reason why you are experiencing difficulties.
That voice that plays in your head whispers, ―You just were not born to be a guitar player.‖
Maybe your excuse is, ―I just started way too late in the game.‖ From my perspective and
research, this is the far from the truth.

It is possible to get very good at it, no matter how late in life you start. It brings me
great satisfaction to inspire an adult to get a guitar, even though he or she is a Baby Boomer
and has never played before. It may be one of the greatest challenges that he or she has ever
undertaken.

From a purely deductive position, the asymmetrical development of most people‘s

brains demonstrates that the neural fields in the right hemisphere of the brain are not even
remotely wired up to their true potential.

One of the reasons is that the modern world influences a more left brain think tank.
This is not conducive to great guitar playing. Maybe it works for a more robotic
methodology of guitar playing, but true intuitive creative playing is only accessible from a
whole-brain powered way. Some people have easy access to excellent guitar playing, while
others don‘t and are looking for the promised land of great guitar playing. I will show you
the way to change this paradigm in one quick inspirational pep talk. We are going to become
very AMBIDEXTROUS with our hands and our brain hemispheres. For starters, make your
left hand do lots of chores during the day to strengthen the fingers so that you can push the
strings around with consummate ease.

21
WILL THE WHOLE BRAIN INTO ACTION AND KICK IT INTO GEAR

Here is one of my short analogies. Suppose one day you looked at your feet, and they started
to talk to you. Imagine your feet appeared to you as though they had lips that were moving,
and they said, ―We are not working for you today.‖

You would look at them as if you were hallucinating. Then they said, ―We are on
strike, and we don‘t want to walk or run, and that‘s final.‖ Then you replied, ―Well, I don‘t
care what you guys want. We need to get to work, so you will follow my commands and do
as I say. That‘s final. There will be no more of this type of mutiny.‖

The proceeding was a strange story, but follow along with me now. Take a look at
your brain and apply the same story line. The brain is where the buck stops. It is the king of
the show, and it does what it wants to do. You have to accept its nature. That‘s what you
have been conditioned to believe. We are creatures of habit and once we get into a grove it is
difficult to develop new ones. That is true to a certain degree until we trump that way of
thinking. This is where your willpower comes into the equation.

22
HANDS UP!

My picture for you is to take your two hands and make a fist with each one, and hold them
side by side in front of you. Now, look down on your metaphorical brain hemispheres and
tell these guys, ―I am in charge, and things are now going to change around here.‖ Your
brain is only 3 pounds of you, and it does not run the show. Your mind is more than the
sum of the parts of your brain hemispheres, so you can override the natural predisposition
for one-sidedness.

You run the organic computer program, and you alone make the decisions. The brain
hemispheres have no say in the matter. Now that we‘ve got that straight, look at those
metaphorical brain hemispheres and say, ―I am going to work you boys out more than you
ever thought possible, and I do not care what you think about it.‖ They, of course, will fight
back and prod along in the training that you initiate for them. But, as time proceeds, they will
certainly come around and will actually enjoy the ride.

23
THE MENTOR AND THE PROTÉGÉ ANALOGY

By doing the WBP program, you will begin a journey that allows you to become a mentor and
a protégé at the same time. This then initiates a process by which the brain shares
information from one hemisphere to the other and modulates the flow of thoughts and skills.
It is as if each side of the brain becomes a hybrid of its former self.

When you work on the WBP program, your left brain will develop more right brain
power, and your right brain will have more left brain capacities. Whole Brain Power gets to be a
bit revolutionary when you get down to the nuts and bolts of the mechanics of how it works.

Imagine if two super computer giants (Microsoft and Apple) decided to share their
technology and allow each operating system to work seamlessly with each other. What a
wonderful thing for the consumer. In the real world, that is not going to happen anytime
soon. However, in your universe, you possess the keys to open up the RIGHT BRAIN and
the LEFT BRAIN compatibility way of being and thinking.

First and foremost, you must be convinced it works, and then you will most probably
be willing to put in the effort. The program has proven results, and upon commencement,
you will automatically experience less one sidedness in your daily activities.

The tenets of the penmanship drills, as well as the hammer coordination exercises, will
help to balance your motor strips in your frontal lobes of your brain. Please refer to the
Whole Brain Power book, Chapter 2, ―The Blue Print of Your Brain,‖ and look at the
illustrations of the brain.

If you play sports or any musical instruments, or study for and take tests, have you
ever had significant improvements in a short amount of time? If so, chances are that you
activated the whole brain and the circuitry that operates it.

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME WITH YOUR GUITAR PLAYING

24
During the formative years of our lives, where the greatest amount of learning occurs, we are
often just being kids, playing around and not truly focusing on becoming proficient at certain
skills and talents. However, here in America, we certainly are encouraged by our parents and
peers to become sports stars. That is because our society places tremendous importance on
competitive sports. Many of us were involved with organized sports to some degree, and lots
of energy and time were focused in that direction. Possibly, musical training was not the
most important extracurricular activity that you pursued. Seriously, If you could do it over
again, would you have started playing guitar by age 7 or 8? Of course you would have,
because you are aware that this is when we learn the fastest. When we are young are brains
are like sponges.

In the period of our youth, our brains were constantly expanding their neural fields
and wiring themselves up for the demands that we placed upon them. As a kid, you probably
did not think about becoming ambidextrous. Very few of us had the ambidexterity formula
introduced to us as children, or initiated with piano playing in our most formative years. It is
considered that of all of the musical instruments, piano is the most balanced and at the
hierarchy of ambidextrous skill learning.

As we retrieve our episodic memories, most of us were busy learning the things that
school required of us. Then, of course, there were the other distractions such as lots of
television, movies, playing video games, and just hanging out with our friends. Little did we
know that playing the guitar would improve our popularity in high school!

In this modern era, most schools do not promote music and the arts as they should or
did in the past. The technological love affair with computers and digital devices that our
current society is obsessed with has us neglecting important aspects of a balanced educational
lifestyle. This also has a lot to do with how our brains are wired.

Where is the right brain thinking these days? It‘s all monotone and logical ways of
brain processing. We have taken out the flow and replaced it with so much structure and
predictability. In the past, there was so much more fluidity and creativity, and now it‘s all
block lettering. That is why penmanship and the ―old school‖ way of memorization have
gone the way of the slide rule. Does this situation that I am describing hit home with you?

Now when the demands stemming from the difficulty of playing guitar are presented,
they may stump you. Your brain is being called upon, and it is fighting back and creating a
sense of frustration for you, and you do not have the solution.

One of the reasons is because your brain is becoming hard wired, and you have no
program to follow that is helping with the flexibility factor. As time proceeds, and we
become settled in on our daily activities, the brain organizes itself and sets in motion an
almost automated way of doing things. Thus, the term ―hard wired‖ comes into play. The
skills that we already know become subconscious and easily accessible. Other skills seem
difficult to learn, and thus we shy away from attempting to perfect them. Thus, the potential
to learn and harness short and long term NEW procedures diminishes, and these parts of the
brain never develop. As a consequence, the brain prunes away these undeveloped neural
fields.
25
CHAPTER 2: FORMULAS AND TOOLS FOR BETTER GUITAR
PLAYING

T hey say that in every generation that there are certain people that are born into genius
potential. The rest of us must be content with what nature has given us. Do you
feel that this is true as it is applied to you? Personally, I really do not buy into this
type of thinking, and in fact, I have done extensive research into methods of
stimulating creativity. There are countless inspirational stories in history where greatness was
achieved because of hardship or a physical or mental affliction.

When Dr. Allen Snyder from a think tank in Australia (www.centreforthemind.com)

performed experiments on university level students, he used a technology called
―Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation‖ (TMS). This TMS machine essentially is a system in
which electrodes are hooked up to the participants left hemisphere‘s scalp which directly
affects the performance of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The
magnetic/electrical impulses virtually shut down the neural fields in the left hemisphere of
the brain for a short duration. Since these parts of the left hemisphere are connected to
logical and structured reasoning and they are silenced temporarily, the right hemisphere is left
to its own devices. Thus, the right hemisphere is freed up in its neurological processing and
creativity, intuition, and imagination are unleashed as never before.

A GENIUS FOR A DAY

In the study by Dr Snyder, people that believed and demonstrated prior to the experiment
that they have no artistic ability, instantly draw well. Those that have the treatment
significantly outperform against others that do not have the TMS treatment when it comes to
proof reading. The results are fascinating and discussed in my Whole Brain Power book. In a
nut shell, these people who partook in these experiments became more spatially aware and
focused. When the effects of the TMS wore off, these artistic skills also seemed to diminish.
The ability to proof read effectively also fell off significantly as well. Technology is now
proving that there really is a genius in us all. However, this revolutionary technology has not
been proven to be without side effects, and it is expensive and not necessary for us to
unleash our latent creativity.

I truly am convinced that the stimulating of the right hemisphere with natural
methodologies is the real secret to letting the genius personality surface in our lives.
When we do the tenets of WBP on a regular basis, we are activating normally dormant areas
of the right hemisphere‘s frontal and temporal lobes. We are activating the whole brain, and
the right hemisphere gets lots of attention to allow its personality to manifest itself. There
are a number of books on the market that discuss the thinking that the ―Right Brainers‖ will
do well in the future because they will have more brain power to draw from in navigating this
human journey and very competitive world.

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SEVEN WAYS TO ACTIVATE GENIUS POTENTIAL

1. Ambidexterity: (The use of the whole brain for motor skills, as well as
cognitive processing.) This includes writing with both hands, in mirror image
format, and mastering the hammer drills with either hand.

2. Scientific discovery: This process begins by researching the proof that brain
science is real and that the neural plasticity and expansion can be activated.
This, in turn, grows memory potential in terms of learning many new
anatomical brain terms, as well as the chemistry that enhances brain growth.

3. Curiosity: Includes having the childlike personality to explore the unknown,

and this case discovering ways to learn music theory, and exploring the
possibilities of improved playing skills over the entirety of the guitar neck.

4. Intuition: (Developing ways to tap into the parts of the right frontal and
temporal lobes of the brain.) This helps the practitioner to connect to creative
discovery and unpredictable thought patterns for originality in writing songs.
This improves one‘s ability at playing chords, licks, and solos.

5. Artistic Expression: This is accomplished by becoming more spatially aware

of a writing (or drawing) instrument in your hand in relationship to a piece of
paper. The ability to control fine tactile movements with both hands is
something we want from all practitioners. There is ample opportunity in this
guitar enhancement guide to hone your skills.

6. The Density Factor. I encourage all practitioners to improve at neural

plasticity (the flexibility of the way your brain processes information) and to
increase their Random Access Memory (RAM) potential. At the same time, I
want to see all students improve at their innate functional strength (natural
strength) and as a result improve their hand and finger strength, especially on
the fretting hand. On the flip side, the tactile motor control drills will allow for
a greater ability to strum and pick notes.

7. Imagination: The thought of playing the guitar and moving the hands and
fingers is a powerful method at improving at your guitar playing. Thinking
about where the notes, chords, and scales runs are located on the guitar neck
has proven benefits for growing the neural circuits on the motor strips.

27
AMBIDEXTERITY AND RAPID GUITAR IMPROVEMENT

If you objectively look at the asymmetrical nature of how our brains and body operate,
playing a musical instrument efficiently is no easy task. The WBP guitar training program
helps make the journey easier and much more fun at the same time. When one develops
certain levels of dual handedness, as well as Whole Brain Power skills, the guitar becomes much
easier to play.

The old way of practicing guitar takes way too much time. The Whole Brain Power way
to guitar playing enhances the journey significantly. The outside-the-box approach is done by
learning basic tenets that do not even involve playing guitar. You will train your brain and
body to become a better guitar player. This will begin to happen as you start working on
ambidexterity, developing your hands, as well as your brain. You will also become more
motivated and thereby spend more time practicing.

We must give you a disclaimer now: The Whole Brain Power way to becoming a better
guitar player may be addictive. It will become a very good habit, but there are other things in
your life that might be sacrificed. For instance, you will probably spend less time watching
television and movies, and more time on the drills recommended in this guide. When you
start to see the improvements, you will want to play more, and the cycle will continue.

You will learn by being constantly aware of the need to use both sides of the brain all
day long. This way of thinking becomes very automatic. Your brain will become more
powerful, as well as more integrated. You will learn to practice by using the ―analyzer‖ (left
brain), and when you perform, then you will access the ―integrator‖ (right brain). When you

28
develop certain levels of dual-handedness, as well as Whole Brain Power skills, the guitar
becomes much easier to play. Your guitar playing will become more fluid, and you will have
much more fun at the same time!

IMAGINATION AND VISUALIZATION GROW THE BRAIN

In the movie, ―The Secret‖ (theory on quantum physics and how thoughts manifest in the
real world), neurologists proved that when people were hooked up to EEG equipment or
other types of brain scanning devices, the subjects‘ motor strip neural fields were activated as
though they were actually performing a 100-meter sprint. Neuroplasticity has been proven to
work through imagination and visualization techniques and in many different fields.

29
 In 1995, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, a neuroscientist at Harvard, instructed subjects to play
a five-finger piano exercise two hours every day for five days. At the end of each practice
session, he measured the motor cortex of the brain that controls precise finger movement.
Within five days, the amount of motor cortex devoted to the finger movements had spread,
taking over surrounding areas of the brain. At the same time, the researcher had another
group simply think about practicing the five-finger piano exercise. They played the simple
piece over and over in their minds, keeping their fingers still and simply imagining how their
fingers would move if actually playing the piano. The results were astonishing. The area of
motor cortex had expanded in the imaginary players in the same way it had in subjects who
had actually played the piano.

As the Harvard researcher proved in his study, if it takes less than one week of
mentally practicing a five-finger piano exercise for the motor cortex (frontal lobes) to expand
in support of the new skill, what will happen to your guitar playing in three months? This
imagination/visualization methodology also applies to thinking about moving your fingers to
play riffs and difficult chord positions with your guitar. What an incredible piece of inspiring
information to have in your arsenal, paving the way for you to get better at playing the guitar,
without playing the instrument all of the time. The mind can change the brain, and the mind
can change the body.

MEMORY IS THE KEY TO ENHANCED GUITAR PLAYING

Let us begin by starting you on a path to creating methods of original awareness and linking
systems. Following is the saga that I will teach you to help you tap into creative storytelling
and at the same time learn the backwards (descending) sequence of the Major Scale. Singing
the notes of the scale is called ―Solfege‖ (a French term).

The doe ate the tea, and the la-so (lasso)

was far from me when the ray of sun hit the doe.

Therefore, it becomes, ―do ti la so fa me ra do.‖ Simple systems help one

understand complex issues, and that is why I promote original awareness for understanding
guitar theory. The right brain is very capable of producing pictures or visuals that enhance
memory. This is one of the reasons that I teach the Peg and Linking systems. Instead of
learning just by rote methods, we instead create Peg Systems that create shortcuts for
memory retrieval. Then we activate original awareness to help us creatively navigate through
lots of memory storage for improvement in guitar playing techniques and intuitive recall of
solo patterns, chords, and lyrics. This method can be used in so many areas of study of guitar
theory as well.

30
 CHAPTER 3: THE SCIENCE AND MUSIC CONNECTION

J ust when science thinks that they have the brain figured out, they have to go back to
square one and start again. Now, a new wave of information about how the human brain
works is flooding the market. The best news of all is that the whole time that they
theorized about the brain, they were wrong. The old pillars of brain science are being torn
down, and the new model is being constructed.

31
 Not only is the old model being put out to pasture, but anecdotal as well as clinical
evidence is proving that the brain is very much compared to a wet three-pound mound of
clay, and we as the sculptor are able to mold it to the desired shape that best enhances the
functions of cognition and motor skill potential.

THE MOTOR HOMUNCULUS THEORY

The Motor Homunculus Theory states that the human hands take a disproportionate amount
of space on the cerebral cortex. This is a huge nugget that I am giving you at this point in the
guitar enhancement training. Consequently, the stimulus that the hands do to the brain
actually grows the surface of the motor cortex.

Objectively, would you not admit that you are very prejudiced about the way that you
use the hands throughout the day? Make a mental note of all the important things the
dominant hand does all day long. Later on, you will write down all the fine and gross motor
controls that are dominated by your RIGHT HAND. If your dominant hand is your LEFT
HAND, the same question applies.

STEROIDOGENESIS FOR IMPROVED BRAIN FUNCTION

Steroidogenesis is the natural production of steroids or hormones. Refer to the Whole Brain
Power book to understand the theory of how the body elevates natural hormone production
through the methods of Whole Brain Power. The brain that is actually growing its anatomical
features is also changing its chemistry and its ability to produce the necessary
neurotransmitters for better cognitive function. This is connected to the production of the
Master Steroid called Pregnenolone. Pregnenolone is also called the motivating chemical.
When it is lifted throughout the brain and body, we have a greater overall sense of well-being
and a sense of getting things accomplished.

32
THE BRAIN GYM

Here is a very important thought to consider. If you went to the gym to work out on
weights, and you did it on a regular basis, you would see results in terms of the muscles
getting bigger and more delineated and your strength improving. Would you agree? When
you practice Whole Brain Power, you must trust that your brain is also getting more powerful
and growing as well. The only problem for you as a practitioner is that you must have faith
that it works. You cannot just go up to the mirror and lift up the top of your skull and peer
inside the brain to see enlarged anatomical features.

You could go down to your nearest neurological think tank and make an appointment
to have elaborate brain scans with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to see the
changes that are occurring in your cranium. You could have a Positron Emission
Tomography (PET) scan to determine if you are effectively up-taking glucose properly in the
brain, especially the parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes. There is ample technology that
allows for the viewing of your brain‘s grey matter and white matter. They do have this
equipment and the latest technology called Voxel Based Morphometry, and it can certainly
determine that your brain surface actually grows. Rest assured that indeed the scientific
evidence is overwhelming—the human brain changes when ambidexterity exercises are
undertaken and a regular practice of the disciplines is followed. All of this information has
been covered extensively in the Whole Brain Power book.

BRAIN FACTS FOR GUITAR ENTHUSIASTS

• The brain can make new neurons at any age (neurogenesis).

• The brain can grow the memory regions called the hippocampi.

• The brain can be trained to focus for longer periods of time because the dopamine
centers become more active. This is part of the basil ganglia and the Substantia Nigra
Pars Compacta (where dopamine is made).

• The brain can thicken the myelin sheaths which lead to greater cognitive as well as
motor skill functions. This also is connected to singing better too.

• The cable that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (Corpus Collosum) grows
well into adulthood and beyond. This suggests that the modulation from one side of
the brain to the other is much more efficient.

• The cerebellum which controls lots of fine tactile motor skills, as well as balance,
grows in relation to musical training. 50% of the neurons are located in this part of
the brain. For more information, please refer to the Whole Brain Power book, Chapter
2.

―The hands speak to the brain as the brain speaks to the hands.‖

33
 CHAPTER 4: MEMORY METHODS FOR GUITAR NOTES

A s we begin the memory training, please refer back to the Whole Brain Power book.
Start out by learning the alphabet backwards. I suggest that you break it down into
short segments, such as the four groups below:

ZYXWVUT

SRQPONM

LKJIHGF

EDCBA

I suggest making up a story to help you memorize the alphabet backwards. Work with
your story so that it is easy to tell, and then break the story down into segments. Here‘s one
of my stories:

―ZYX‖ is so easy, and I Won (―W‖) ―VUT‖?

As a Senior (―SR‖), I was Cued (―Q‖) to go

to the Post Office (―PO‖) to deliver a letter

to New Mexico (―NM‖). Like (―LK‖) Jesus (―J‖),

―I‖ promise to use my Human Growth Factor (―HGF‖)

so that I can run the Education Department (―ED‖)

of my Central Brain Association (―CBA‖).

34
Have fun making up your own stories, and then go ahead and practice reciting the alphabet
backwards: Try adding pitch or melody to the backwards alphabet, as you do with the
forward alphabet. You are now on your way to remembering the alphabet backwards in its
entirety.

ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

Let’s apply these principles to the following musical scale:

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

In the movie classic, ―The Sound of Music,‖ Maria teaches this musical scale to the
children by singing the following song called ―Do Re Me,‖ written by Linda Arnold:

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

Doe, a deer, a female deer,

Ray, a drop of golden sun,

Me, a name I call myself,

Far, a long, long way to run,

Sew, a needle pulling thread,

La, a note to follow so,

Tea, a drink with jam and bread,

That will bring us back to

Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Me, Re Do.

When you know the notes to sing,

You can sing most anything.

35
 In the following exercise, practice assigning the musical notes to each of the words
from the song, ―Do Re Me.‖ I have assigned the first four lines for you as follows:

Doe, a deer, a female deer,

C-D-E-C-E-C-E

Ray, a drop of golden sun,

D-E-F-F-E-D-F

Me, a name I call myself,

E-F-G-E-G-E-G

Far, a long, long way to run,

F-G-A-A-G-F-A

Please fill in the musical notes below to the remaining lines of the song. Get the guitar
out to help you with this exercise.

Sew, a needle pulling thread,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

La, a note to follow so,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

Tea, a drink with jam and bread,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

That will bring us back to

__-__-__-__-__-__

Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Me, Re Do.

__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__

When you know the notes to sing,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

You can sing most anything.

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

36
 Go back and forth from the song to the names of the notes. It takes a little practice,
but soon you will know all of the notes of major C and be able to do it blindfolded as you
play the guitar. By singing along as you play, you are developing your voice and sense of
pitch at the same time.

Practice this daily and the other drills that are recommended in the Whole Brain Power
book and workbook. The memory of the alphabet and the ability to assign a number to each
letter is helping grow the short-term memory processing centers in your brain. Do you
remember the name of this part of the brain? It is called the HIPPOCAMPUS. Just
remember a big ―hippo‖ going to the ―campus.‖

Let‘s test your memory. Can you recite the notes of C Major backwards or in the
descending scale starting with G? By now, I hope you can say, ―G F E D C B A.‖ Here is a
simple story, (G FED CBA). Think about a man named G who fed his Central Brain
Administrator.

This represents a peg/linking system. If you think about all of the acronyms we use
daily, such as CBS, ABC, NFL, MLB, NBA, etc., you can see how you can create any
acronym you desire to aid in your music training. Can you instantly recall the names of the
Great Lakes? Lots of people draw a blank here. It‘s easy to retrieve this information if you
remember the word HOMES. This stands for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and
Superior.

This guide will inspire you to begin to create your own peg systems so that you can
understand guitar theory a bit better than conventional methods allow. The Original
Awareness/Linking System works better than you ever imagined. When we get to the Circle
of Fifths in our basic music theory section, you will be well prepared.

Again, I can make you rest assured that the alphabet backwards is not difficult, it just
needs practice. Write it out a few times by referring to your story. My training tips help you
grow your memory regions called the hippocampus. There is one located on each side of the
brain in the Medial Temporal Lobes. Their way of processing memory is unique to each side
of the brain. Consequently, when you strengthen each hemisphere of the brain for
information assimilation and retrieval, these two units will start to work in tandem with each
other. They are referred to as hippocampi (plural).

The science that is available to us is now proving that this area of the brain can
physically grow. Refer back to my Whole Brain Power book and re-read the Chapter 4, on
memory. The London cabby drivers all have enlarged hippocampi. They memorize
tremendous amounts of data, maps, street names, alternate routes, etc. It takes on average of
four years to pass the test. Many drop out because they do not have the discipline to stay the
course. They are required to know 25,000 street names and be able to take alternate routes
from any point to a desired location. They are not allowed to carry maps. I wonder if they
use Peg Systems. They surely do, and it is the only way that they are able to pass the test to
get licensed to drive the elite cabs that are very much the Rolls Royce of cabby cars. The
Black Cabbies, as they are referred to, pull in at least $200-400 a day when business is good.
That is pretty good incentive to get their badge of honor.
37
THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO LEARN HOW TO TEACH

It is all relative according to Albert Einstein. That is why he is the father of the theory of
―Relativity.‖ If you compare it to a tennis player who is an A level player (5.0), he certainly
should be able to teach a C level player (3.5). The C level player is excited about learning
from someone so much better than himself. This is the basis of WBP as well. We are
teaching each hand to do beautiful writing and the hammer and golf ball training as well, and
this is making each hand and brain hemisphere a mentor and a protégé at the same time. The
inspiration that we are directing to you is that by doing certain drills, you will prepare the
brain to be able to handle information that most have problems assimilating. As we are well
aware, the older that we get, the more difficult it is to learn a foreign language or other
complicated things dealing with abstract thought. Music theory has many abstractions that
confuse the individual. Through the study of this material, one will begin to ―get it‖ and then
to be able to apply it as well.

There are easy aspects to guitar playing, such as the basic open chords, and then there
are more difficult areas that frustrate the average person. The reason that this is the case is
that we are fighting against ―the system‖ and the way that it has trained us how to learn. The
programs that we go through do not inspire any serious emphasis on ambidexterity or brain
science. It is pretty obvious that most educational systems have not taught us how to have a
great memory. The system teaches us to cram for tests and then we forget the information.
This is not conducive to great guitar playing.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO TYPES OF MEMORY:

TRAINED VS UNTRAINED.

WHICH SIDE OF THE FENCE ARE YOU ON?s

WBP changes this paradigm in regards to this problem, especially as it relates to

playing guitar and singing and remembering the chords and the lyrics to songs. In this guide
book, which I suggest you print out and have in a 3 ring binder, there are certain areas
reserved where you will write out in the best possible cursive penmanship that you can
muster. What are these things you will be asked to write about? They will be your
understandings of the basic of music theory, notes that accompany your exercises with the
fretboard charts, lyrics to songs and chord progressions, and all other aspects of your
development as a guitarist.

There is an old saying and it goes like this:

If you want to remember something, then you write it down.

38
 At the time that this handwriting/memory phrase was coined, it meant that in order to
remember something important, it was recommended to write the information out in
beautiful cursive handwriting. That was the old school way of doing it. Back then,
penmanship was a discipline that many people were taught to develop. With WBP, we
resurrect this thinking, and we present sound scientific evidence to why this brain training
method has direct application to improve musical aptitude.

The reason that this act of handwriting stimulates memory retrieval has to do with the
subtle mechanics that operate in the frontal lobes of the brain, as well as the areas of the
brain that are involved with focus. The brain is very much considered to be a pharmaceutical
factory. The production of Dopamine, Glutamate, Acetylcholine, and a host of other
neurotransmitters is stimulated with WBP methodologies.

The aspects of an improved Endocrine system is also allowing the brain and body to
have greater amounts of Pregnenolone at its disposal. And you will discover through the
WBP book that Pregnenolone is the master steroid that makes all other steroids including
Testosterone. As you get educated about Testosterone‘s role in memory formation you will
have to give the tenets that I prescribe a solid effort. It is a proven scientific fact that
necessary for protein synthesis at the memory formation sites for new learning to occur.

There is no substitute for the firing of the different brain regions when it is associated
with the act of penmanship. To be able to write smoothly with either hand and in either
direction takes one‘s brain power off the charts. Think about it logistically. You are your
own experiment, and you have direct evidence of what your non-dominant handwriting looks
like on Day One. For most people, it is going to be extremely sloppy and illegible. You
know from the experience how tasking it is for the brain to be doing something so foreign,
especially when it relates to this fine motor control. The mechanics of what is happening in
your motor strip of your non-dominant brain hemisphere is nothing short of revolutionary.
By committing to a disciplined practice on a daily basis, for five minutes a day, with your non-
dominant hand, to write in either mirror image style or normal cursive writing, you will be
blown away with your progress in less than thirty days.

This is part of our impulse control development. What this term means is that we
are capable of sending electrical impulses for improved speed of thought, as well as motor
control skills. This program helps improve the function of the brain‘s motor strip, as well as
the development of subconscious motor neurons located in the deep strata of the cerebral
cortex of the brain.

When UCLA‘s neurological department did PET scans on people writing in

penmanship, more of their whole brain (both hemispheres) were activated as opposed to
what the scans displayed on those people that were reading, typing, talking aloud or listening
to incoming information. This is powerful and thought-provoking news for people who are
serious about sharpening their brain‘s ability to improve its performance. You just might
reconsider your thinking about penmanship and applying yourself to the skill, as the rest of
the modern world deems it to be a worthless practice

39
 . When you read Chapter 3 in the Whole Brain Power book, ―Sharpen the Pen, Sharpen
the Mind,‖ you will understand that the focus necessary to direct the writing instrument (pen
or pencil) with consistent precision is building the brain‘s connections and strengthening
neural fields and improving how they operate and communicate with each other. This is
referred to as Long-Term Potentiation (LTP). When you see and feel the results, then you
will know the truth about the value of fantastic handwriting.

To break it down simplistically, what the penmanship training does for your brain is it
creates a tremendous balance between the delicate acceleration and breaking systems of one‘s
fine motor controls. The pen‘s movement is a subtle up and down stroke production and
trains the brain for tremendous touch. Here is the connection for you; the upstroke down-
stroke movements will help in your ability to pick and strum the strings and have an
unconscious access to these fine motor controls. Of course, when you are developing the
skills to do penmanship with your non-dominant hand, your overall coordination at paying
guitar will go through the roof.

40
 CHAPTER 5: TALENT IS OVERRATED

B ooks such as The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, and The Brain That Changes Itself, by
Norman Doidge, are showing us that the concept of being born with talent is a bit
overrated. Sure, there are people that are very gifted and born to become geniuses,
but all of us have the genius potential. It is now a matter of being aware of it and
tapping into our potential. That is where the Whole Brain Power methods to playing guitar and
singing come into the equation.

When you read about Daniel Coyle‘s findings in his book and the common thread that
he weaves through his manuscript, it totally makes sense that without passion for learning,
there really is no major advancement at whatever one pursues. Here are some of the basics
that he writes about in his studies of ―talent pockets‖ around the world.

 Ignition of passion for learning and keeping the flame burning.

 Proper coaching influence.
 Deep practice, including very direct and often super slow movements.
 Talent manifestation is nurtured and not necessarily a birthright.
 It comes down to the building of the myelin sheaths all throughout the brain or
Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BRAIN IS A GREAT START

First, it is recommended that you educate yourself about this fabulous brain that you have
been endowed with, and then investigate how to expedite the learning process to elevate this
computer-like organ‘s performance. Secondly, take the WPB enhancement formula and
apply it to guitar playing and singing along with the instrument.

In the Whole Brain Power book, you will read about the ways that practitioners
improved at their short-term memories, their procedural motor skills with penmanship (each
hand), and the hammer drill training.

The cornerstone of WBP is working towards becoming ambidextrous with the hands
and the brain (cognitive thinking). This concept is a very relative one, to say the least. The
ambidexterity that we are talking about is based more upon fine or tactile motor skills with
either hand. It is also about how we are able to process information and form the visual
imagery in the right hemisphere and pass it over to the deductive logical left hemisphere.

The proper playing of the guitar certainly is elevated when a person becomes more
ambidextrous at all motor controls that usually are delegated to one hand. It is equally
enhanced when the memory systems allow for instant access to chord progressions, lead
patterns, and lyric retrieval.

41
 The WBP program inspires the practitioner to practice on a daily basis simple acts
such as writing, shaving, stirring the coffee, using the mouse on the computer, etc., all with
the non-dominant hand. The brain does not make this shift overnight, but the tenets of
WBP hasten the metamorphosis faster than any program on the market.

Once you begin the WBP program, you will be amazed just how quickly the brain and
the body adapt to this way of thinking and being. At this point, stop right now, and ask
yourself a very fundamental question, ―If you could become highly ambidextrous, would you
want this to become part of your nature?‖

Look at your hands and the serious difference in coordination that they manifest.
Throughout the day, there certainly is a propensity to favor the dominant hand over the non-
dominant hand. Just imagine that you had the ability of doing skillful tasks with consummate
ease with either hand. This would certainly make the guitar playing much better. The multi-
tasking skills required to play well would be at your disposal, and the subconscious zone
would be achieved for a greater liberation of your creative energies.

As you go down this path, and you develop skills in your non-dominant hand, you will
experience an immediate improvement of the motor controls of the dominant hand. That‘s
why the 90-day Whole Brain Power Workbook is a must to follow.

ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY

When you go through this guitar enhancement guide, you will see unfamiliar material,
and your first hesitation is going to be to skip over it, and get straight to the ―secrets‖ in this
book. Instead, you are going to see areas that require you to work on assimilating new
material. At that same time, you will be asked to write out what you are
42
learning. You will be asked to fill in some charts of chords and explain the theory behind
chord compositions. However, by tackling these problems, you will grow your understanding
of how to play guitar with more knowledge of the instrument, and you will also become more
coordinated in a dual-handed manner. This all is intended to make your overall lifelong
journey in the guitar world much more enjoyable.

There are a number of ways that you will get better at playing your guitar throughout
the day without even playing it. This will happen from just thinking and visualizing about
playing it, and at the same time working on the coordination improvement exercises. Also,
your short and long term memory processing in your Medial Temporal lobes (hippocampus)
is going to get so much better that you will have no doubt as to what notes or scales that you
are playing at any given moment.

Studies done at the University of Regensburg and The University College of London
on Voxel-Based Morphometry support our theory through clinical research that found
―environmental demands may be associated with changes in gray and white matter (myelin).
For instance, it has been reported that the structure of the brain alters (the cerebral cortex
grew on average 4% in the 90-day juggling trial) when human beings learn to navigate, read
music, play a musical instrument, speak a second language, and even perform a complex
motor task such as juggling.‖

I have created a complete and balanced regimen that includes not only widely
recognized whole brain development activities such as playing a musical instrument, artistic
endeavors, new language learning and juggling, but taps into much more powerful and
efficient brain development through ambidextrous skill development. These include dual
handed penmanship training and the hand to eye coordination with the bouncing golf balls
on hammers of all weights and sizes.

43
 One way or another, I am developing the hemispheres of my brain to do some
amazing motor skills controls. Do you think that this correlates with better guitar
playing? YES!

It is recommended that if you have opportunities to play games

such as ping pong, darts, or other sports such as basketball,
throwing a football or hitting a tennis ball, you should work the
non-dominant arm and hand as much as possible. The learned
skill of hitting with a paddle or racquet or throwing up free throws
with the opposite hand really challenges the brain, and it responds
quickly to the tasks presented.

There is nothing in the WBP training that expedites the ambidexterity journey as
much as the hand writing drills. This is because of what it is doing to the brain and the
powerful neural fields in the deep strata of the cerebral cortex. These are the Super
Pyramidal cells. These unique neurons have up to 20,000 receptor sites on them. Just imagine
that the pen awakens them faster than anything else that you could do.

The below passage comes from my Whole Brain Power book, and it is located on page
148. It should be highlighted, for it really concerns some chemistry changes that occur when
you do the WBP program properly. First, consider the concept of taking supplements to
increase brain performance, and you will realize that the market is flooded with such
products, and the jury is still out as to whether they work or not. This is the American way of
doing things.

Well, for all the hype that is purported, memory problems seem to be getting worse
for much of the population. Does this hit home with you? There is some pretty strong
evidence coming from WBP practitioners that the tenets that they undertake lead to the
natural way to lift the chemistry that improves the brain‘s super grow formula. Refer back to
the WBP book and read the Case Studies Chapter. By following the three major tenets of
WBP and regularly practicing the hammers drills and combining it with mental gymnastics at
the same time, you will grow the brain in subtle ways.

According to an article in the New York Times, a landmark study published by

Columbia University and the Salk Institute shows that subjects had grown new brain cells
after a three-month program of aerobic exercise. Until this study, science did not know of a
correlation between exercise and brain development. The study showed that every time a
muscle contracts, it sends out the IGF-1 protein (insulin-like growth factor) that travels
through the bloodstream, across the blood-brain barrier, and into the brain itself. In turn,
IGF-1 issues an order to increase production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),
which fuels almost all the activities that lead to higher thought and improved memory
functioning. With regular exercise, the body builds up levels of BDNF, and the brain’s nerve

44
 cells start to branch out, join together, and communicate with each other in new ways. This is
the process that underlies learning.

Additionally, research with done by the University of Regensburg and The University
College of London proved juggling grew the participants’ cerebral cortex by an average of four
percent in 90 days. I theorize that the hammer drills done with both the right and left hands,
and simultaneously in dual hammer drills from right to left hand, have the same impact on
brain growth as juggling. It is possible that the heavier hammer drills (4 pound
sledgehammers) have an even more potent impact on brain development because of the
possibility that more IGF-1 is pumped into the bloodstream and makes its way through the
brain-blood barrier. Since my Whole Brain Power™ theory is tied into the premise that the
hands grow the brain, my hammer drills, which put so much active stress on the hands and
forearms, should be one of the most effective means by which you can provide muscle
contraction that releases IGF-1 into the bloodstream. Again, hammer drills are not intended
to replace your normal aerobic routine such as walking, swimming, treadmill, bicycling, etc.,
which targets the heart and lungs as well as the brain. However, hammer drills should
provide a more effective method for specifically targeting the brain.

Let‘s get to the training for our fine motor control enhancement. In the example
below, I have demonstrated my penmanship skills as well as the simple shape of the cursive
letter ―e.‖ Look at his shape as an old fashioned telephone cord. Practice this shape with
each hand, and do it in each direction. This is a fun little exercise and helps kick start the
ambidexterity training with the pen.

45
 On the lines provided below, practice doing three line s of the cursive ―e‖ from right
to left with your right hand. Then switch the pen to the left hand, and do three rows of the
telephone cord shape in the mirror image manner.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Now test your SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE and see how level you can maintain your
telephone cord shape without the lines as your guide. Space is provided on the following
page. This is a difficult task. Get out a ruler after you have done the telephone cord shape,
and see how much slant there is to your imaginary lines. On this part of the blank paper,
write out the names of ten songs that you want to master.

46
 List your top ten favorite songs and artists that composed them.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

47
Next, I will show you an example of drawing with two hands at the same time. Refer to the
video where I demonstrate the ease of this skill. You will be surprised at how fast the brain
figures out this multi-tasking ability.

DRAWING WITH TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME

This skill is easy to learn and you will surprise yourself at how well you can draw using this
methodology. Refer to the video that comes with this program to watch how easy it is to do.

48
Now try your hands at the drawing exercises.

Take two different colored pens and see if you can draw with both hands
simultaneously. The easiest objects are those that are symmetrical in shape. You will be
surprises at how easy your brain can figure out this skill. Try your hands at this fun exercise.
Do it with different colored pens so that you can discern what each hand drew.

49
THE TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING EXERCISE PAGE

50
Go to town on this blank page and see what your creativity can manifest.

51
 Playing leads or riffs on an acoustic
guitar really strengthens the fingers
to play on the electric guitar. It also
is very beneficial to learn about the
piano key board. It really helps when
studying the circle of fifths.

The training of the hands with

penmanship training always keeps
the brain stay very alert when it
comes to focusing on the playing of
the guitar and remembering the
chord progressions and lyrics to the
song. Below you will see a sample of
my mirror image writing. This
exercise is a fantastic one for the
brain.

MIRROR WRITING IN THE MEHOD OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

LEFT HANDED MIRROR IMAGE WRITING

52
Please refer to the Whole Brain Power Workbook and Progress Journal.

Let‘s try mirror image writing. To begin, write your signature with your RIGHT HAND in
cursive on the line provided for you. If you‘re left-handed, then write your signature with
your LEFT HAND as you would normally.

____________________________________________________
(Your signature)

Then hold a mirror next to your signature, and look at how it appears when it is in the mirror
image format.

Now attempt to write your signature backwards with the pen in your LEFT HAND. In
essence, create the image you see in the mirror when looking at your signature written above.
If you are left-handed, then reverse these instructions, and do it with the RIGHT HAND
instead.

_____________________________________________________
Your signature written with your LEFT HAND (or non-dominant hand)
in mirror-image, backwards.

Does your non-dominant mirror image handwriting flow smoothly or does it feel awkward?
After a few weeks of practice, my students tell me, ―My dominant hand is working, I am
writing better than ever, and my mirror image writing is slowly beginning to look exactly like
my dominant hand writing.‖ I tell them that part of the reason this is happening is that they
are practicing more, but also because of the cross-training that they are doing with their
opposite hand. To handle this new demand on the brain, I theorize that neurogenesis is
occurring as the brain adapts to the difficult skill of mirror image writing, as well as perfecting
the skill of penmanship with the dominant hand.

Practice your mirror writing on the lines provided for you.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

53
 CHAPTER 6: GETTING BACK TO YOUR MUSICAL ROOTS

I f you are a beginning guitar player, this forthcoming list is important for you. Here are
my suggestions, so please consider the following recommendations. Becoming a good
guitarist, whether you‘re learning how to play electric guitar or acoustic guitar, Blues or
Rock, Classical or heavy metal, requires that you have a solid notion about chord
progressions and what modes are ideal for the song being played. The freedom to step up
and play along other musicians can be obtainable the more that you understand the theory
behind the guitar

As a guitarist, you might have a few fancy licks that you have copied, but to obtain the
freedom of movement of more experienced guitarists, it is important to build a strong
foundation for your skills to develop. That‘s why I want to inspire you to put time into your
WBP workbook and write your thoughts about your understanding of guitar theory. The
more that you improve at tactile motor skills and build strength in the fretting hand, the
better your playing will become. No matter how basic your knowledge is of the fret board,
scales, chords, and how chords are related to one another, it is recommended that you keep a
journal. When you are that guy who has the ability to move in and out of modes, up and
down the neck with your eyes closed, you will be happy about the dedication that you put
into your WBP training.

54
 The major suggestion that may help you to get there is to write the scales and modes
on fretboard charts of the guitar neck. We will cover the positions of the Major Scales, the
7 modes of the Diatonic Scale, as well as the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales. There
are ample spaces provided for you to practice making your scales and chords on the neck.
Pick a scale and write every note of that scale on every string all the way up the neck without
even playing it. This very act of using the pen to enhance memory of the fret board is one of
the secrets of WBP for guitar enhancement. You will get better at guitar without even
playing it. In fact, the more that you take notes by the use of the pen and paper, the greater
your understanding of guitar theory will become.

GUITAR RECOMMENDATIONS

• Learn the One String at a Time Method to Playing Lead Guitar.

• Practice the chord changes and scales only as fast as you can play a piece
perfectly.

• Speed picking is first accomplished by gaining momentum on one note at a

time.

• Learn to alternate picking up/down/up/down and become lightening fast and

start slowly and then build up speed.

• Stay on one string and play major scales and the 7 modes for increasing sense
of spatial relationships. This helps tune the ears for the ―right sound.‖

• Sing the notes out loud as often as you can.

• Learn to bar chords by strengthening the fretting hand‘s index finger. The
hammer drill training comes into play here.

• Be aware of the proper shape of the two major bar chord positions, and make
these positions even without a guitar in hand.

• Learn the 5 different voicing on the guitar: bending, hammer-ons, pull-offs,

sliding and vibrato.

• Understand that Power Chords sound so good because they are made from the
Root and the Dominant Fifth.

• Know the type of scale that you are going to use to solo over chord
progressions.

55
LEARN TO STRING YOUR GUITAR PROPERLY

I see so many guitar players who do not string their guitars properly. If this is the case, and
your guitar goes out of tune easily, it is because the strings are slipping. If you are strumming
aggressively, or you are bending and do hammer-ons and pull offs, it is easy to put the guitar
out of tune. If you do not know how to wrap the strings in the correct manner, go to a
professional at a guitar store, and he or she will show you the technique.

Look at the manner that I am bending the B string. If the strings on the guitar are not
strung properly, they will slip, and the guitar will easily go out of tune.

56
TIMING IS EVERYTHING

My suggestion to you is to make a purchase of a metronome similar to the one pictured

above. There are, of course, digital metronomes. However, being able to see the movement
of the metal bar helps with one‘s timing. As you are getting accustomed to playing perfect
time with your metronome, you will develop the confidence and the ability to play with a
drummer and other musicians. One of the greatest problems that beginning and intermediate
guitar players experience is lack of a sense of meter and time. Therefore, there is discord
when playing with others. The metronome is your friend and practice partner.

Make it a habit to find the beats per measure for the song that you are practicing at the
present, and master the ability to stay with the timing all the way through the song. Take
your metronome, and see if you can set it to the beat of a song that you wish to master.
Sometimes, you will notice that the timing either speeds up, or slows down, throughout the
song. It is not necessarily true that all songs maintain a certain beats per minute from start to
finish.

The suggestion is to think about the normal speed for songs that would be considered
a 12-bar blues, and do some experimentation with songs that would be in that style of music.
You will find that there is a consistency of beats per minute in most of these songs. From
there, establish your beats per minute on the metronome, and practice the songs that you
want to play.

57
LEARNING ALL OF THE NOTES ON THE GUITAR NECK

Eventually, the goal is to learn all of the notes on the guitar; the paragraph below
discusses them. However, for now, our emphasis will be on the Root Notes. These notes
are also referred to as the Tonic Notes. They are all of the notes around the fretboard that
are natural notes, and they comprise A B C D E F G. These notes also have sharp (#) or
flat (b) designations, and we will discuss that soon. In order to learn the root notes, we first
learn the names of the open strings. The strings from the thinnest to the thickest are as
follows:

E B G D A E

Below is an original awareness story that I made up to remember them.

EXCELLENT BRIGHT GUITARIST DUDES ALTER EVERYTHING

E B G D A E
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Or, if the guitar is being tuned, and you are going from thickest to thinnest strings, then the
notes are:

E A D G B E

And, the story assigned to these notes is:

EXCELLE ADAMA DETERMIN GUITARIS BRIGHTE EVERYTHI

NT NT ED TS N NG
E A D G B E
6TH 5TH 4TH 3RD 2ND 1ST

METHODS OF ORIGINAL AWARENESS TO MEMORIZE THE ENTIRE

GUITAR NECK

Most guitar players have never challenged themselves to memorize the entire guitar neck.
Most likely, you have never done this type of training before. Perhaps for you, it will
probably be your first time. This approach will build a lifetime relationship with the guitar.
When you know where the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a scale are located anywhere on the guitar
neck, you are in great shape to play lots of different styles of music.

58
 Remember, the chromatic scale repeats after every 12 notes. There are usually only 22
frets on the normal electric guitar, so to put to memory 22 X 6 strings is doable. That comes
to 132 notes, plus the 6 open strings. We have a total of 138 notes altogether to learn over
time. You probably already know at least 1/3 of them now, and you do not even realize it.

ORIGINAL AWARENESS RELATING TO THE GUITAR NECK

The only way for you to do this program properly is to print out this PDF file and have it as a
working journal. The fascinating thing about writing out these notes by hand and putting pen
to paper is that you begin to discover patterns. For instance, at fret No. 5 when you look
across the fretboard (vertical axis), the notes are all natural ones.

They are A D G C E A. Then at fret No. 10, the same situation occurs where the
notes are D G C F A D. It does that pattern again of no #‘s or no bs. It happens again at
fret No.12 with the notes E A D G B E. Then, at fret No. 17, it occurs again with the notes
A D G C E A. Finally, at fret No. 22, it repeats again with the notes D G C F A D. It is
fascinating that at fret No. 15, all but one note is a natural note, and it (A#) is on the 3rd
string (G).

I will demonstrate how I use the diagrams of the fretboard, find root notes, and then
make notes for myself as I learn the fretboard, like the back of my hand. This is what I
encourage you to do as well. In this guitar enhancement guide, you will work the guitar fret
board charts vertically as well as horizontally.

Not only are we going to learn ALL of the notes on the fretboard, we are going to
master the ability to locate the TRIADS (1-3-5 notes of the scale). These triads, of course,
are the chords that we play all over the neck. We will also want to know the 7 th degree, as
well, so that we can play the dominant 7th chords such as A7, G7, and D7 etc. In advanced
music theory, we could continue to learn the construction of 9th, 11th and 13th chords as well.

In music, the pattern of seven intervals separating the eight notes of an octave can be
represented in two ways, which are equivalent to each other. For instance, for a Major
Scale, these scale steps are:

• T-T-S-T-T-T-S: where S means semitone; T means tone

• Whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half: where half means semitone (half a

tone); whole means tone.

The major scale starts on the first note (Root or Tonic) and proceeds by steps to the
first octave. In Solfège, the syllables for each scale degree are ―Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–
Do.‖ Including the example of C-major (piano white notes), this can be viewed as:

59
C major C D E F G A B C
Solfège Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
Interval T T S T T T S

E A DGBE

60
 FRETBOARD EXERCISE FOR C MAJOR SCALE

TAKE NOTES AND WORK ON YOUR FINE MOTOR CONTROL WITH THE PEN.
THIS HELPS WIRE THE DEEP STRATA OF YOUR CEREBRAL CORTEX.

This method works so well for anyone that truly wants to master the knowledge of the
notes on the guitar neck. On this fretboard chart, identify the C Major Scale in as many
positions as you can.

When you are using your ―Musical Alphabet,‖ there are only 12 notes that you are
required to know. (Technically, there are 15 names to the Major Keys because three keys that
are considered sharps (# = sharp) or flats (b = flat) share the same space on the Circle of
Fifths. These are called Enharmonic Keys. Enharmonic also refers to notes as well.

61
Let us proceed with our musical alphabet and learn the names of the notes on the Chromatic
Scale (12 notes in succession). They are:

A-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#

The scale repeats itself again and at one octave higher. There are 12 tones in western
music and in succession is considered the Chromatic Scale. NOTE: there is no B# or E#,
and this is IMPORTANT to remember, for B goes right to C, and E goes right to F. They
are only 1/2 step (semi-tone) apart, which on the guitar is the next fret over. Note that when
doing the Chromatic Scale; it also could be played as A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G,
Ab.

On the fretboards on the upcoming pages, I have demonstrated how the fretboard
should be used for your training. For example, on one of the fretboard below, I have filled in
the notes on the first two strings (6th and 5th) in this diagram. Eventually, you will be able to
take the entire neck and fill it in and do it relatively quickly. This ―out of the box‖ training is
certainly going to make you a much better guitar player.

Are you able to fill in this fretboard

chart?. I hope that you will take the
challenge throughout this guitar
enhancement guide.

Give it a shot, and see how long it

takes you to fill in the 39 missing
notes. Remember, this chart only
goes up to the 12th fret. Make sure
that you do not forget the open
strings.

You could start at the 1st string and

cheat by looking at the 6th string.
The notes are the same except they
are two octaves higher than the 6th
string.

62
 With each successive diagram, we will chip away at more and more of the fretboard.
The next fretboard will be yours to work on and identify the notes on the 6th and 5th strings,
all the way up to the 22nd fret. There are all kinds of ways that you can work your magic with
the pen and grow your myelin sheaths in your brain at the same time.

Consequently, as you identify the notes on the frets, circle the ones that are the Root
notes or the 3rd or the 5th of a certain scale. If you do not know about the concept of the 3rd
and the 5th of the scale, you soon will. Then you will learn about why it is very important to
have these notes easily accessible. You will be learning about Triads and arpeggios and how
to identify whether a scale is a major or a minor one because of your understanding of these
notes and how they are grouped together. By doing this, you are getting it put to permanent
memory. More importantly, you are going to understand how chords and ―licks‖ work so
well together. In this guide, take all kinds of notes that help you master the location of the
notes over the entire neck.

There will be ample blank guitar charts for you to do your magic. It will surprise you
as to how much more you will know about the guitar when you can isolate with consummate
ease any scale you want to play. This is why you will get better at the guitar, even while you
are away from the instrument.

WRITE OUT SOME OF YOUR SHORT- TERM GOALS RELATED TO

YOUR GUITAR PLAYING IN LEFT HANDED MIRROR WRITING.

63
FRETBOARD EXERCISE EXAMPLE

E A D G B E

64
Learn to work the guitar charts when they are on their sides as well. This is
how you see your guitar when you are playing.

Here is a suggestion: Practice filling in the fretboards with the notes to licks that you
already know. If you know the A Major Pentatonic, see if you can fill it in on the fifth fret
position. If you cannot do it now, you will when you finish this guitar enhancement guide.

Suggestion for beginner guitarists: Play your guitar and practice staying on one string
only, and go up and down (horizontally) the chromatic scale. Sing the notes out loud as you
play. Let‘s start on the 6th string and start to familiarize you with the notes from the open E
to the 13th fret. As you do so, sing the notes E-F-F#-G. etc.

Now let‘s begin a Peg system for each note that is connected to the markers on the
1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th fret.

AN ORIGINAL AWARENESS STORY FOR REMEMBERING NOTES

Here‘s my story.

The Open 6th String is E for Excellent!!! And at first grade (F is 1st fret) I got an F, and
in 2nd grade (2nd fret,) my F was sharpened (F#).

NOTE: the rest of this peg will skip frets in certain places to speed up the process.

By 3rd grade I said, “G rhymes with 3” (3rd fret,) and by grade 5, I got my first A (5th
fret). Then at 7th grade, I got my first B (7th fret), and by 8th grade, I got a C (8th fret),
and I realized that by 10th grade I would get a D (10th fret). As I was going uphill (the
fretboard) on the education (scale,) my grades were going downhill, and at the 12th grade
(12th fret,) I got an E (so I said excellent!!!). Then at the 13th grade (college,) I got an F
because I was playing too much guitar, but I did not know the guitar theory. So after 15
years of playing (15th fret), I said “Gee” I might as well learn the notes. So, after 17 years
(17th fret) of playing, I will know that the 17th fret on the E string is an A Note.

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 This is such a ridiculous story, but it works because it is so ―off the wall,‖ and that‘s
why it can be remembered. This visual imagery is a right hemisphere processing power. It
is as though you have a Windows Movie Maker, and it is playing the graphics in your head. It
doesn‘t need sound, for the pictures are good enough to stimulate the memory. This memory
technique jogs the memory banks in the same manner that the alphabet peg system does.

These little stories are so stupid that you will remember them. These are the
beginning of other pegs systems that can be used for the memory enhancement of the notes
on the fretboard. Right now, can you tell me what note is on the 14th fret of the 4th string?
Does it take you awhile or can you instantly, say E? After practicing with the fretboard charts
in this Guitar enhancement guide, you will have lightening quick access to all of the notes
around the guitar, and this will help you solo playing because you are going to know where
your root notes are located.

Soon, you will know where root of the scale (tonic), the 3rd of the scale, and the 5th
of the scale are located, and then you will know the chord and how to plays tasty licks over
them. This is very exciting to know!

Get your stories wired into your memory about the notes on the fretboard. As you
train your memory between this guitar enhancement guide and the WBP workbook, you will
be growing your brain to be able to handle the assimilation of challenging information.

In the WBP book, you were encouraged to remember all 50 states in The United
States by creating your written story about how or why you were in each state. This same
approach can be directed to knowing the fretboard. Remember, the right hemisphere is great
at creating visual imagery, and this helps with memory processing. So, it‘s perfectly fine to
create your own unique original awareness stories to identify any note or chord on the neck.

The suggestion in the memorization of the notes of the fretboard is to work on the
first 4 strings (the thickest ones first). The thinnest is easy to remember because it is the 2nd
octave of the 6th string, so it has all of the same notes.

As you get more comfortable using the pegs, the easier will it be for you to train your
memory for more complicated guitar theory. You can practice the one string at a time
technique on the 5th string (A). For all intents and purposes, we will refer to the appropriate
notes as sharps instead of flats. Starting on the open 5th string the note is an A, and then the
following chromatic scale goes-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#E-F-F#-G-G#-A (12th fret.

When you are learning the system of the musical alphabet, realize that it repeats itself
only an octave higher. Please note that there is no E# or B#. E goes straight to F (one
semitone), and B goes straight to C (one semitone). They are only a ½ step apart. This is
also called a semitone or seen as 1 fret length. Note; a tone is the distance of 2 frets or a
Whole Step. You will see notation in the future of this tutorial where the symbols WS-WS-
HS-WS represent Whole Step-Whole Step-Half Step-Whole Step.

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 One of the secrets to mastering the guitar
fretboard is to practice with fretboard
charts. It is as though you have a map,
and you are tracing out your route to
travel.

So often guitarists are so attached to

playing the instrument that they never
step away from it and work on an outside
the box approach to learning the
instrument. In this exercise, I worked on
identifying the notes on the 6th string. I
also identified the octaves that are located
on the 4th string. Slowly but surely, we
will work our way all the way across the
fretboard. The way that we learn the
guitar neck is both from a horizontal, as
well as vertical axis.

Become inspired to really work the pen

and do the assignments with the
fretboard charts. It will pay dividends for
you.

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

Let‘s start to work on the Major Scales, doing this same one string at a time approach.
Soon, we will be going vertically across the fretboard. Here are a few diagrams of the way
that you should be working the fretboard charts.

FINDING THE TRIAD OF F MAJOR

On this fretboard chart, identify all of the notes of F A C over the entire fretboard. Use a
filled-in circle to represent F (root), and then a circle with the letter of A or C in it. This is
the triad of F Major. This drill will come in handy when you learn how to find the 5
positions of F Major A. The reason that we are doing this training is so that we can integrate
it into the CAGED System that you will soon learn. Refer to the fretboard chart on the next

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page if you are having a hard time identifying the notes of F A C (the triad of the scale of F
Major).

LEARN TO WORK THE FRETBOARD WHEN IT IS VERTICAL AS WELL AS

HORIZONTAL

THE ENTIRE FRETBOARD CHARTED OUT FOR ALL 138 NOTES

I can assure you that when you

spend the time to work on the
entire neck for the identifying of
all of the notes; it starts to pay
huge dividends for your playing.

Take small chunks of the guitar

neck at a time. Soon you will
have most of the notes accessible
to you for the identifying of the
Root, 3rd and 5th of the scale of
chord.

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

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 GUITAR CHORDS ALL GUITARISTS SHOULD MASTER

These are the basis for countless songs in all genres:

The Basic Guitar Chord Chart shows a good variety of some easy-to-play open
chords. The chords are represented in the form of a guitar chord diagram that is much easier
to read than standard musical notation. The basic guitar chords you'll learn on this page form
the foundation of everyone‘s initial introduction into playing guitar. These chords are also
used by advanced players and in all styles of music. Beginners should practice these chords
until they have memorized them and are able to switch between them fluidly.

It is important that you know the names of the notes that you are playing for these
open chords. You must realize that the triads make up these chords and that the open strings
that have an X are meant to not be played. Those open strings with a 0 means that they are
to be played.

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For example, the triad of a G chord is G B and D and the Open G chord is:

The G note on the 3rd fret of the 6th string.

The B note on the 2nd fret of the 5th string.

The open D note on the 4th string.

The open G note on the 3rd string.

The open B note on the 2nd string.

The G note on the 3rd fret of the 1st string.

In the open chord, there are three octaves of G being played, and there are two
octaves of B played. There is one D note played. As you learn the guitar neck, you will see
the way chords in a different light.

THE BASIC SHAPE OF BAR CHORDS

These are the simple bar chord shapes that all guitarists learn. There are many more
chords that can be made out of these barred positions. They are also transposable up and
down the fret board. In the following photograph, I transposed the D Minor Bar chord to
the 7th fret, and now the chord is E Minor.

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 E MINOR BAR CHORD

Here is a photograph of the E Minor bar chord being played. When you perform with
another guitar player, and he is playing an open chord E Minor, it is suggested that you might
want to play at another position on the neck. From this position, it would be very easy to slip
into a nice riff of an E Minor Pentatonic Scale.

In order for the bar chord to be played properly, the index finger needs good strength.
It really needs to create almost a capo like effect across the 6 strings. One of the secrets is to
roll the index finger slightly in a counterclockwise direction. Notice the thumb position as
well for it helps with the pressure necessary to create a very clear quality in the ring of the
strings when they are strummed.

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POWERFUL HANDS AND FINGERS HELP CREATE AWESOME SOUNDING
BAR CHORDS

In the photograph above, I am playing a form of a bar chord. However, the index
finger is lifted up, allowing for the 1st and 2nd open strings to ring out. Try this type of chord
out, and you will like the sound.

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 D MAJOR OPEN CHORD

This D Major Chord is made up of a triad. That would be the Root, the 3rd and the 5th
of the scale of D Major. Those notes are D-F#-A. In this open chord, one would play the
5th (A) the 4th (D) the 3rd (A) the 2nd (D) and the 1st (F#). It helps to know the Circle of
Fifths because we know that in the chord of D Major, the F has a sharp.

Now on this fretboard chart, see if you can locate other root notes of D Major and
where one could also find the 3rd and the 5th degrees in order to form another D Major
chord. The hint is to create a D Major Bar Chord. When we learn to form arpeggios, it will
make this task much easier. Start at the 5th fret on the 5th string, and find the root note, and
then find the other notes of the triad that form the D Bar chord.

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 A MINOR OPEN CHORD

The A Minor Chord is comprised of the notes of A C E. The way that you can
construct this chord is to know the Root, 3rd and 5th of the A Minor scale.

Here is a fretboard chart to help you understand other positions of A Minor. You
probably know how to play the A Minor Bar chord, but the fretboard charts will solidify the
understanding of its construction.

On this fretboard chart, identify the triad of A Minor in the open chord position, as
well as the form of the A Minor Bar chord at the fifth fret. See if you can find the A Minor
shape at the 12th fret.

These exercises help you find the different positions of the same chord on the
fretboard to allow for different chord voicings. Also, by knowing these positions of A Minor
chords it is easy to play a Pentatonic at the same position.

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 OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Fill in these guitar chords on the charts and make sure that you use an X where the open
string is not played. Use an O where the open string is played. You can refer back to the
charts that I filled in earlier in this chapter. If you get stuck, reverse engineer the construction
by remembering that the triad forms the chord. In the case of a 7th chord, the 7th degree is
also used in the construction. Take notes in this area if necessary.

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 THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Write out your guitar playing aspirations in your finest penmanship. Watch them come to
fruition by staying disciplined with your WBP training. Your rewards will be great when you
practice the out-of-the-box methodologies. Each time that you pick up the guitar after doing
the WBP exercises, the instrument will seem easier to play.

These are my goals: (Write with your right hand in the normal manner, and then use your left
handed cursive in a mirror image format.)

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 WORKING ON OUR SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

Now on this page write out your thoughts on the space provided. However there are
no guide lines to maintain the levelness of your handwriting. It is fine to skip over this
exercise for now. You can always revisit this experiment.

77
 CHAPTER7: THE WHOLE BRAIN POWER APPROACH TO
RAPID IMPROVEMENT ON GUITAR

I remember way back when I started trying to learn songs off records, and used to try to
figure out the chords one at a time. I was unaware that chords belong to a family of 7
and that this holds true for all of the 12 Major keys. My old way of doing it was much
more labor intensive. If I had it all over again, I would have gone straight for Guitar
Theory.

It‘s common knowledge that lots of the heroes of rock and roll started their training in
classical music and often worked as session musicians. They knew their guitar theory, and it
was necessary for them to be able to read chord charts and to know exactly what scales would
work best for any given song. By the time they made the jump to the big stage, they were
equipped with an incredible foundation for building their songs into the all-time classics.

Upon scrutiny, the classic songs throughout the diversity of modern music are a
testament to solid construction techniques. When you dissect the popular songs, the
structure of the chord progressions for the verses, choruses, bridges and solos all work
harmoniously together. These songs did not come about by accident but by serious
construction methodologies which relied heavily upon guitar theory. When you learn about
why chords fit so nicely for songs, you will see why after studying the Circle of Fifths. This
will be covered in Chapter 12.

In my own guitar endeavors, I put in the effort but had mixed results for years.
However, because of my WBP discoveries and unusual approach to things, I decided to grab
the bull by the horns and study the guitar a more proper way late in the game. I am very
happy that I have done so and continue to stay motivated to proceed down this path.

First of all, without having an enhanced short-term and long-term memory system
fully operational, it is difficult to navigate the training necessary for very good guitar playing.
Thus, when you continue with this guitar enhancement guide, I encourage you to chart out
the guitar neck and be able to put to permanent memory the notes on the guitar neck.

It will happen for you only if you practice the Major Scales and all 12 of them. There
is no real other way to accelerate this process. When you know where the scale notes,
especially the tonic, third and perfect fifth are located on the neck, it is so much easier to
construct chords as well as lead patterns. You will be able to utilize all of the shapes of the
Major Scales and their modes as well as the different Pentatonic Scales.

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LEARN BEYOND THE BASICS

 Key Signatures

 Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales

 Be able to play scales and chords in all five positions

 Modes of the Diatonic Scale

 Know how chords are constructed and played over the entire neck

 The CAGED System

 Playing arpeggios

 Relationship between Relative Major and Relative Minor Chords

 Basic understanding of the Circle of Fifths

 Nature and prediction of chord progressions

 Introduction into the 12 Bar Blues

 Knowing how to commence and resolve your licks

 Learning to play scales and riffs in a super slow-motion way for perfect normal
execution.

MUSIC THEORY IN A NUTSHELL

Let‘s go over the elements of what we are going to learn to advance our guitar theory
knowledge. It is necessary to understand about the nature of Key Signatures. This allows
us to know what notes to play with the chords in question and what chords belong in the
family with the Key Signature. For example, if we are in the Key of C Major, we should
know what notes can be played harmoniously with C Major and what chords can be used in a
progression.

It helps us to know what section of the neck that we are playing on for a song as well.
We should know that the neck can be broken down into sections too. The Open strings
to the 5th fret is section one. The 5th fret to the 10th fret is section two. The 10th fret to the
15th fret is section 3 and the 15th fret to the 22nd fret is section 4.

Next, it‘s important to comprehend the nature of Intervals. This term is the distance
between notes in a scale. Thus, when you hear the term tone or semi tone, we know that
one tone is a whole step, and the semi tone is a half step. Intervals help us to understand
triads of which there are four kinds;
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MAJOR MINOR DIMINISHED AND AUGMENTED

Triads lead us to four note chords, such as 7th quality chords. These would be the chords of
A7, B7, C7, D7, E7, F7, and G7. From there, we can build upon our knowledge and
construct 9th chords as well.

Soon, we will be ready to understand the nature of the Seven Chord Family. So
when someone asks us, ―What the heck is a I-IV-V chord progression?‖ You will know
what to say. Have you or anyone you know ever asked that question and you‘ve been
stumped to explain the theory? Now you will be able to reply to them with confidence. This
will be how you will sound in just a little while. ―These chords are all in the same key. Take
this song we are playing, and it is a 12 bar blues. It is in the Key of C Major, so when we jam
on the chords, we are paying a 1-IV-V progression, and the IV chord is F and the V chord is
G.‖ Your friends will be impressed by your guitar knowledge. Please follow along and apply
yourself with a determined effort in assimilating this material.

As you learn from this guitar enhancement guide and dedicate yourself to the
exercises, you will have the confidence to be able to teach basic music theory to others. Your
guitar playing will be the proof of your understanding and solidified by your elevated playing
skills.

When you are learning about guitar theory, the Major and Minor Scales, chord
construction, chord progressions, the CAGED System, triads, arpeggios, the Circle of Fifths,
the five positions of Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales, passing blues notes, and the seven
modes derived of the Diatonic Scale, etc., it requires lots of brain power. The WBP way of
training your brain for memory improvement, as well as fine motor control elevation, will
actually grow your brain in the process too. This will make other areas of your life more
enjoyable as well.

The WBP guitar enhancement guide helps practitioners improve the performance of
their brains and the specific areas of the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and the cerebral
cortex (thinking part of the brain) to assimilate difficult and complex information and then to
apply it immediately to improvement at guitar playing skills.

That is why I encourage you to do all three aspects of the tenets of the WBP training.
It is all designed to help you advance quickly, up the learning curve, for your guitar playing
and singing. Test yourself the first day of your training and record the hammer drill and golf
ball successes. I guarantee you that by staying with the drills each day that you will feel lots
stronger in the forearms, wrists and hands. Your alertness will be elevated. You will also
develop fantastic touch because of the penmanship training, and as a consequence, you will
be able to have greater control of your strumming and picking hand. Remember, the goal in
the program is to activate penmanship with each hand. You will discover that as the non-
dominant hand gains skill and speed, the dominant hand automatically improves its dexterity.

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 Hopefully, you can sense the amount of active stress this penmanship training is doing
for you and that the WBP training for guitar is going to work for you!

Let‘s get back to the manner of training for improved understanding of the notes and
scales on the entire fretboard. Knowing where your roots are all over the guitar neck helps all
areas of guitar playing. That‘s why the fretboard charts are here for you to learn from and to
experiment with.

Each root is considered a home base where everything resolves to and around for
great sounding music. Without this understanding many guitar players are ―dazed and
confused.‖ The meat and potatoes of this chapter are to drive home the need to know the
root, the 3rd and the 5th degree notes all around the neck of the guitar.

After you master the understanding of the roots and their location, then you will learn
to know where the 3rd and the 5th of any scale are located. Get your head around the concept
that an arpeggio is a group of notes (the root, 3rd and fifth of a chord) which are played one
after the other, either going up or going down the scale. Executing an arpeggio requires the
player to play the sounds of a chord individually to differentiate the notes. The notes all
belong to one chord. Soon, you will grab your guitar and tackle this little exercise. There are
so many very good teachers on the (YOUTUBE) that show you how they are playing
arpeggios and mixing them up with other tasty licks and riffs.

Here is your homework fret board. Please fill in the notes of C Major Scale. You
most likely have played it before. Let‘s see if you can jog your memory and fill in the
fretboard. It is different without a guitar in your hand. If you cannot do this assignment, go
back and review the diagram that I did for you.

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USING GUITAR FRETBOARD CHARTS TO IMPROVE OUR MEMORY
OF NOTES

Locate C Major Scale (3rd fret) staying on the 5th string, and go up the neck
horizontally. It is helpful if you have your guitar handy:

C Major Scale moving up the neck horizontally

In this fretboard chart above fill in other areas of the C Major Scale. This is your map
for your improved guitar playing in the very near future.

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 On this chart identify the Root Notes, the 3rd and the 5th of Major C around this
fretboard chart.

C Major Scale Exercise

In this fretboard chart, fill in the placement of where D Major Scale can be played.
There are a few different places that one can play the same sounding notes. In this case, start
on the 5th string and use the 4th and 3rd strings as well. Go up to the 10th fret on the 6th string,
and see if you can create another pattern where D major Scale can be played.

D Major Scale

On this fretboard chart locate the C Major scale which is the octave of the one that
begins at the 8th fret 6th string. Your starting place would be the 4th string, 10th fret.

C Major Scale starting from the 10th fret

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 Knowing the notes of each major scale is part of any musician‘s journey to truly
knowing the guitar. That is why we learn the notes of all of the major scales and how they
work with the Circle of Fifths. We are also going to learn to see the scale as two
groupings of 4 notes. They are the lower half and upper half of the scale. The fifth note
of scale is called dominant and this group of notes is called the dominant tetra chord.

Now use your best penmanship and write out the above paragraph on the lines
provided.

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The beginning of the C scale is on the tonic (root) so this group of notes is called the
tonic tetra chord. Saying the notes out loud can really help very much. This drill will
certainly help your ability to know the whole guitar neck. The tonic and the dominant of the
scales will be so embedded into your memory and playing scales will be that much easier for
you. When playing the Diatonic Scales make sure that one of each of the seven letters in
the Major Scale should be used. Sometimes we have a situation where we will have sharps in
the scale and then we will also have a flat note in the scale. These notes that can be either a
sharp or a flat because they share the same fret position are called enharmonic notes.

Now let‘s write out this paragraph and drive this information home. If this exercise is
exhausting that means that you need to practice more at your penmanship in order to build
up stamina.

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 Notice that the path of the arpeggio for C Major in this diagram is not the same as A
Major. Instead of going over to the 2nd string (B) I stayed on the 3rd string (G). You still play
the 1-3-5 notes and through two to three octaves.

Arpeggios usually can rise or fall for more than one octave. It really is important for
one to know the notes on the fretboard so that arpeggios can be played through two and
three octaves. Once you begin to practice playing arpeggios, then you will realize that they can
be added to the other types of scales (pentatonic) or modes of the Diatonic Scales. The more
that you have in your arsenal, the greater variety there will be to your guitar playing.

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 Write out the bold faced words of this paragraph above in your finest penmanship. If
you write with your opposite hand, the better training for your brain.

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The concept of playing arpeggios is an easy one to grasp because we are only using the
triad of the chord and playing each note individually. Remember the 7th of the chord can also
be played. They would be considered a C7 arpeggio. This four note chord would be C-E-G-
B or the root, 3rd, 5th and 7th.

Practice identifying arpeggios all over the neck, and work them through two and three
octaves. You will be surprised at the sound you will get when you add arpeggios to your
licks.

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 This fretboard exercise is for an arpeggio in C Major. Start at the 5th string 3rd fret and
make a run through three octaves.

Arpeggio in C Major

In this fretboard exercise find the A Minor Arpeggios starting at the 5 th fret. Notice
the patterns are different than the Major Arpeggios. Remember the same rule applies for the
minor arpeggio scale. The root note A is at 6th string 5th fret and then you move to the flatted
3rd which is the note of C. The 5th degree is still the note E.

Arpeggio in A Minor

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 Learning arpeggios certainly helps one to navigate the fretboard diagonally across and
horizontally at the same time. Once you have done enough of these fretboard exercises you
will have such freedom to move around the guitar neck as never before in your playing. This
is all happening with this pen in hand and ―out of the box‖ training.

ALL GUITAR PLAYERS PLEASE HEAR THIS

Get the names of the notes of the two thickest strings on the guitar wired into your hard
drive in your brain because soon you will learn the CAGED System (Chapter 11) and your
playing will go through the roof. But for now we are laying down the foundation. I want to
encourage you to really challenge yourself to memorizing the 6th and 5th strings first.
Remember the 1st string is the same notes as the 6th string. Also I will give you a SECRET
to remember the Notes on the 4th string. But for now let me tell you why it is of the upmost
importance that you get the 6th and 5th strings wired into your RAM (random access
memory).

As you are going up the first two strings get originally aware and give nicknames to the
open strings and to each of the frets with their markers. Those are usually at the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9,
12th fret etc. Also, make an exception and put to hard memory the 8th fret on the 6th string
because this is our BABY (C note-$100 bill). To me the number 8 looks like an infinity sign
put on its side. So maybe it‘s Baby, I’m in heaven = fret 8. I know this system seems
weird, but trust me it works wonders for the imagination. In turn, this lends to more
creativity in playing and singing along with the guitar. For example, to remember the note for
the A string (5th string) to be fret 8 = (F). I picture a cursive letter f which looks like the
no. 8. Then I have other notes put to memory in the same fashion and little by little I am
establishing my permanent memory of the root notes around the entire guitar neck.

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When the CAGED System for guitar playing is introduced and explained you will be flying
along with this course.

You can practice the one string at a time technique on the 5th string (A). For all
intents and purposes we will refer to the appropriate notes as sharps instead of flats. Starting
on the open 5th string the note is an A, and then the following chromatic scale goes-A#-B-C-
C#-D-D#E-F-F#-G-G#-A (12th fret). As you are learning the system of the musical
alphabet it repeats itself only an octave higher. Please note that there is no E# or B#. E goes
straight to F (one semitone) and B goes straight to C (one semitone). They are only a ½ step
apart. This is also called a semitone or seen as 1 fret length. Note; a tone is the distance of 2
frets or a Whole Step. You will see notation in the future of this tutorial where the symbols
WS-WS-HS-WS represents Whole Step-Whole Step-Half Step-Whole Step.

LEARNING GUITAR THEORY WITH BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE

PIANO

Every guitarist should spend some time in front of the keyboard and analyze the way that the
white and black keys are arranged. The modern musical keyboard with its black keys grouped
in twos and threes, is essentially diatonic; this arrangement not only helps musicians to find
their bearings on the keyboard, but simplifies the system of key signatures.

Can you find middle C on the piano? It is located on the white key to the left of the
two black keys. On the piano Major C is played as seven consecutive white keys in a row.
This is one of the reasons that we learn Music Theory based upon our understanding of the C
Major Scale. When we begin to earn the Circle of Fifths we will be putting C at the 12

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o‘clock position on the Circle. Since it has no sharps or flats we then can create the clockwise
direction of the wheel and locate the other Major Keys and how many sharps are in the scale.

The modern keyboard is based on the intervallic patterns of the Diatonic Scale. The
guitar also is based upon these interval patterns. However, it is played on two different
planes or axes. There are the horizontal axis and the vertical axis. The same frequency can
also be achieved at a number of different positions on the fret board as opposed to the
keyboard which has a frequency for each key. Also, the voicing of the guitar allows for
bending of strings which can raise the pitch of a note without changing fret positions. This is
a marvelous feature about the guitar.

When you look at the piano keys and you play the Key of D Major can you tell me
how many blacks keys will be played and which ones that they are? After this guide is studied
it will be a breeze for you to explain. That is because you will get a course on the Circle of
Fifths.

The answer is that there are two black keys that are played and they are F# and C#.
Thus the scale of D Major is

D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#

Let‘s find the scale of D Major on this guitar chart. Start the exercise at the 5th string
and the 5th fret. Fill in where the notes are played and name them as well. Have the guitar
ready to help you with this exercise.

The Scale of D Major

Find the scale of D Major at the 5th fret, 5th string and then at the 10th fret and fill in
the path that it can be played.

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 D Major Scale

Now do the same for E Major. Start the scale on the 5th string, 7th fret and then also
find the scale at the 12 fret, 6th string.

E Major Scale

Now do the same for A Major. Start this scale at the 6th string, 5th fret. Then find the
pattern at the 12th fret and the 5th string.

The Scale of A Major

THE DEGREES OF THE SCALE

The degrees of the scale are also known by traditional names. These names, starting from the
bottom of the scale, are the tonic, the supertonic, the mediant, the subdominant, the
dominant, the submediant, and the leading tone. These terms also are used to describe
the name of the chords that are used in a seven chord family that is associated to a Major

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Key. When you learn these names of the degrees of the scales we get into chord progressions
then all of this information will all start to gel for you.

FIRE UP THE PEN

Please write out the above paragraph in your finest penmanship. Try writing some of it with
your left hand and then some of it with your right hand.
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______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

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On the rest of this page see how level you can write. You should practice daily on your skill
of writing on blank paper and developing levelness to your penmanship.

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 CHAPTER 8: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE RELATIVES
OF THE CHORD FAMILY

T he family of SEVEN chords that belong to any Major Chord can be found by using
a formula based upon the Key Signature and the number of sharps or minors that
there are in the scale. For example, the natural minor scale can be thought of as the
relative minor of the major scale, beginning on the sixth degree of the scale and
proceeding step by step through the same tetra chords to the first octave of the sixth degree.
When you want to find the relative minor for C Major, you go to the 6th degree of the scale
and it is the A Minor. The formula for knowing the Tonic (1 chord), Super Tonic (2 chord),
the Mediant (3 chord), the Subdominant (4 chord), the Dominant (5 chord), the
Submediant (6 chord) and the Leading Tone (7 chord) is as follows:

I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii dim.

C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

This music theory formula says that the vi chord of the Scale of C Major is an A
Minor. Therefore A minor (Am) is the Relative Minor or C Major. This will be explained
in greater detail as you read on in this tutorial.

A tetra chord is considered to be the scale for the first four degrees of a Diatonic
Scale. Theoretically, one can break the Solfège into two distinct scales; the do re me fa
separated by a Tone and then the so la ti do. These two scales within the Major Scale are
called the tetra tonic and the tetra dominant. The fifth degree of the scale is the perfect
fifth or the dominant fifth and it is the first note of the tetra dominant. Once you
understand this breaking up of the major scale you will get the idea of when to use the
different modes of the Diatonic Scale for playing solos, licks and riffs. This is very
important to grasp when one is learning to do solos over chord progressions.

NOTES OF THE SCALE OF ―A‖ MINOR

A B C D E F G A

The Intervals are as follows: T S T T S T T

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 The degrees of the natural minor scale have the same names, except rather than
having a leading tone, the seventh degree is instead known as the subtonic.

In solfège, (a French term) a technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each
note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable, this is regarded in two
different ways: either as "La–Ti–Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La" (A Minor scale) or (again) as "Do–
Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do."

Technically speaking, Diatonic Scales are obtained from a chain of six successive
fifths centered at D, in traditional tuning systems such as Pythagorean tuning. The Greek
were great mathematicians and they were able to figure out ratios of string length to
determine pitch of notes and thus tuning. It is very complicated to understand so let‘s just
accept the fact that they knew what they were doing.

A Diatonic Scale can be also described as two tetra chords separated by a whole tone. For
example under this view the two tetra chord structures of C major would be:

[C-D-E-F] - [G-A-B-C]

And of the natural minor of A would be:

[A-B-C-D] - [E-F-G-A].

The set of intervals within each tetra chord comprises two tones and a semitone. A-B
is one tone, B-C is the semi tone and C-D is the 2nd tone. This represents the tonic tetra
chord of A Minor. The Dominant tetra chord has the E-F as the semi tone and the F-G as
the 1st tone and the G-A as 2nd tone.

Soon you will understand why we are breaking the scale into two sections. You will
have a better grasp of the diatonic scale and the 7 modes or moods of the scale. These
scales are derived from the ancient Greeks. The modern equivalent scales are called Ionian,
Dorian Phrygian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. In a little bit they will be explained
to you. At his time let‘s learn the C Major scale (Ionian) and how it relates to the 7 modes
mentioned in this paragraph.

C Major Scale is our starting point; C Major is also an Ionian Scale.

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 The easiest of all major scales to learn is the C Major scale simply because it has no
sharps or flats in it. Starting with the root note (or "tonic") C, you will find and play the
following scale using the method described above.

C-D-E-F-G-A-B That‘s the C Major scale (notice there are no sharps or flats). Sing the
scale before you actually play the notes on the guitar.

do re me fa so la ti do

Grab the guitar and review an earlier exercise. Again, we start by using the note on
the 5th string, 3rd fret (that's your first C note). Now play up a whole step on the A String
and play (D). We are going to stay on the 5th string and go up the guitar neck (horizontally).
Sound out the C Major Scale and by singing (do re me fa so la ti do). Just by trial and error
you will find the sounds of the notes and placement on the fretboard and you will remember
them as well. This is the most simplistic way of playing C Major. We have already learned
many different roads to the same 7 note scale (actually 8, because of the C octave). The notes
should be played on the 5th string are at frets, 3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15, with the notes being
playing on one string horizontally.

C D E F G A B C.

WS -WS-HS-WS-WS-WS-HS

By learning Major and Minor Scales you will have a much better grasp of chords and
as to what you are playing and why what you are playing sounds good to the ear. As your
guitar knowledge base grows you will have a feel for what chords go together well.

Then you will make a huge leap in your guitar theory understanding because you will
comprehend the nature of what solo or riff patterns go on said chord progressions.

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 By the time you get done reading about these exercises you'll have a basic
understanding of all the four groups of chords;

MAJOR, MINOR, AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED

Then you will learn how they are constructed and how they work together. With a little
practice and patience, you'll soon be playing great music on the guitar. You might have
already figured out a lot of things on the guitar and have the dexterity to play bar chords and
awesome leads but the inspiration to learn about guitar theory will take you to the Promised
Land.

In this music theory tutorial you'll learn the construction behind guitar chords and
how they work in harmony with each other. Spending a little time on guitar music theory and
harmony will save you a lot of time learning how to play guitar chords from charts and will
deepen your understanding of the guitar. Music theory provides you the means to
communicate better with your fellow musicians. You'll learn songs faster because you actually
know what you are playing and why it works from a fundamental standpoint.

THE SOUND OF CHORDS

Here is a very good exercise for you to practice. Let‘s play the chords of C Major, D minor,
G7 and C major7. Strum these chords very smoothly and let the sound ring out for a long
time. Listen to the nature of each chord. It is very important to train your ear (auditory
cortex) to hear the mood of each chord and the quality of the sound.

Play the C Major open chord and realize that it is a strong sounding chord but it has a
neutral feeling to it.

Now compare it to Dm and hear the somber, rather sad mysterious tone. Lots of
songs about heartbreak and love lost are using this chord as well as Am etc.

Play a G7 and it is strong yet it has a moderate dissonance. That‘s why they call it a
blues chord. This type of chord creates tension in a song.

Compare it to a 7th chord such as C major 7. This chord has a very nostalgic, lush
quality. You will find this chord in popular songs in ballads describing an emotion of love
found or anticipation of the finding of something wonderful happening.

These chords are just a few of the many that you already know and will learn. But
more importantly you will realize when and how to use them in your creation of your own
originals as well as easily learning popular songs.

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INVERSIONS AND FIVE VOICINGS OF THE CHORDS

An inversion is simply a different position of the same chord as played on the guitar. It
actually is very common for inversions to be used. When you learn the CAGED System
shortly you will be playing inversions just as well as you play open chords. That is because
you will be learning the Major Keys in five positions and those position are inversions of the
chords that you already play. In simple terms we are rearranging the chord and in the process
we are producing a different ―voice‖ for the chord. It is still a C Major chord but the Tonic is
no longer where it normally is for the Inversion.

To make a chord into one type of Inversion take the bottom note (TONIC) of the
triad and place it on top of the chord. Try selecting the three chords of C F G, or the I-IV-V
chords and let‘s build inversions of each chord. They are easy to construct and play and you
already can play them without even knowing it. For example when you are playing an open
chord of C Major and you use the 6th string on the 3rd fret and you play the additional note
of G you have created an Inversion of G. The G is now the bottom tone ahead of the
normally lowest note of C. This is the most simplistic explanation of an Inversion. When
you see a chord chart and it has the notation of F# over D, (F#/D) this is another example
of an Inversion of the D Major. The F# is played on the 2nd fret and it totally changes the
sound of the F# is played on the 2nd fret

You will often times use these types of chords in country music in a ―walk down.‖
Try using these types of chords in your playing and watch the sound of your guitar music take
on a new quality. It is boring always playing the standard types of chords. So experiment and
have the curiosity to explore the potential for the different voicings that the instrument has to
offer.

When you get into understanding the CAGED system you will open up an awareness
of what the guitar can actually produce in terms of beautiful sound. The reason being is that
the 5 shapes of the chords that you will learn to move up the neck are forms of Inversions.
There are two types of Inversions. They are the 1st Inversion and the 2nd Inversion. All that
is necessary to understand is the way that the notes are stacked on the triad.

I want you to finish strong in this tutorial and embrace the challenge to learning more
about the guitar neck and how to navigate it with increased confidence. This takes discipline
and memory enhancement and that is why I encourage you to do all of the drills with the
charts and areas of penmanship where you are recording your understanding of the different
aspects of Guitar Theory and how the Circle of Fifths opens up your musical universe.

You will soon learn how to expand upon the different scales that you can comfortably
play over chord progressions. Consequently, the scales of Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian
will compliment the Major scale (Ionian) and Major and Minor Pentatonic scales that you
already play. We will also study the Phrygian, Lydian and Locrian Modes but for this tutorial
we address in detail the first three modes seen in bold face.

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 CHAPTER 9: LEARNING ABOUT TRIADS AND CHORD
CONSTRUCTION AND SCALES

I n this chapter the emphasis is on how to construct chords from Major and Minor scales.
The chords that we will learn to build are the Major and Minor Triads, Augmented and
Diminished as well as Inverted and Suspended Chords. In music theory, a triad is a
three-note chord that is built from the scale of any Key signature. It is built from the
first, third and fifth degree of any diatonic scale. It can be stacked in thirds and its members,
when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:

• The Root

• The Third (whose interval is a major third or minor third above the root)

• The Fifth (whose interval is a major or minor third above the third, and a
diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the root)

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The topics covered here will be as follows.

• The difference between major, minor, dominant, diminished, or augmented

chords

• How to name chords

• How to find the notes of a chord

• How to construct guitar chords

The triad is considered to be the basic building block of functional harmony in music.
The root note or tonic (tone) of a triad, together with the degree of the scale to which it
corresponds, primarily determines a given triad's function. Secondarily, a triad's function is
determined by its quality:

MAJOR, MINOR, DIMINISHED OR AUGMENTED

Let‘s go over these four types of chords. First let‘s start with a Major Triad and it will be
explained with the key of C Major. The 1, 3 and 5 notes of the chord are:

CEG

And these three notes form the C Major chord. That was easy.

Now the C Minor Triad is simply made by lowering the E one fret and making a
flatted 3rd. This is pretty simple material when you take it step by step.

Next the Diminished Triad is constructed by taking the Minor C Chord and lowering
the G a fret to make a flatted fifth.

The Augmented Chord is created by taking the Major Triad and sharpening the G
note and raising it a fret. This triad now becomes two major thirds stacked on each other.

In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing

five staff positions. A perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones. For example, the
interval from C to G is a perfect fifth, as the note G lies seven semitones above C, and there
are five staff positions from C to G. Diminished and augmented fifths span the same number
of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (six and eight).

All of this information will sink into your hippocampus very soon. Then it will all
click for you. This is great training for your instrument called your brain!

Now let‘s take a look at what these Major, Minor and Diminished Triads look like in
standard musical notation. Observe the G clef and look at the ―stacked thirds.‖ That is
exactly what they are. It is good for you to get an initiation into this Music Theory and see
what the C Major chord looks like when it is represented as a musician is trained to see it. As

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you study the chords of the family of C Major you are learning about what chords go well
together in certain songs. That is why I am prodding you along to embrace this information.
As you then learn to play your favorite songs and you analyze the construction of the chord
progressions you will understand why what you are playing sounds so good.

THE FAMILY OF SEVEN CHORDS OF C MAJOR

C Dm Em F G Am B dim

The perfect fifth is more consonant, or stable, than any other interval except the
unison and the octave. It occurs on the root of all major and minor chords (triads) and their
extensions. It is necessary to understand what the perfect 5th means. The inversion of a
perfect fifth is a perfect fourth and this is unique to the scale for no other inversion of any
scale degree has this property. The perfect 5th is a pleasing or consonant sound. So a perfect
fifth has consonance and in simplistic terms, it means that it goes with major or minor
chords.

When a teacher or fellow musician refers to root (1), major 3rd, or perfect 5th we now
know what they are taking about during a lesson or session. These three notes are considered
the triad of a chord. These three notes are also considered to be an arpeggio. As we wrote
out earlier in this guitar enhancement guide, the arpeggios are usually played through a
number of octaves.

REVIEWING MAKES THIS GUITAR THEORY STICK IN THE BRAIN

Triads are built by stacking every other note of a Diatonic scale (e.g. standard major or minor
scale). For example, C-E-G spells a triad by skipping over D and F. While the interval from
each note to the one above it is a third, the quality of those thirds varies depending on the
quality of the triad:

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 WRITE OUT THIS SHORT PARAGRAPH WITH YOUR FINEST PENMANSHIP:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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• Major triads contain a major third and perfect fifth interval. This can be
symbolized:

R 3 5 (or 0-4-7 as semitones).

Four semi tones equal a Major third and 3 semi tones make a Minor Third.

• Minor triads contain a minor third, and perfect fifth, symbolized:

R b3 5 (or 0-3-7)

• Diminished triads contain a minor third, and diminished fifth, symbolized:

R b3 b5 (or 0-3-6)

• Augmented triads contain a major third, and augmented fifth, symbolized:

R 3 ♯5

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 The definition spells out the interval of each note above the root. Since triads are
constructed of stacked thirds, another way to define each triad is as follows:

Major triads contain a major third with a minor third stacked above it. Take for
example the C Major, which is a Major Triad consisting of;

C-E-G

The interval C-E is a Major Third and E-G is a Minor Third. This is why when
reading sheet music you see three notes stacked upon one another on the G clef.

The family of the 7th chords

Minor triads contain a minor third with a major third stacked above it. For example in the
major triad A-C-E (A minor), A-C is a minor third and C-E is a major third.

• Diminished triads contain two minor thirds stacked. For example; B-D-F (B
dim)

• Augmented triads contain two major thirds stacked, e.g. D-F#-A# (D aug).

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 Now to review; we know that a triad is a three-note chord in which there is a Root, a
Third and a Fifth. There are four different kinds of triads: They are:

In the process of learning guitar theory it is important for you to have a clear
understanding of how triads are built. Inversions and Suspended Chords are easy to
understand and to play and to construct anywhere on the guitar neck. But first we need to
have a strong foundation of the concepts of the TRIAD and from there all other types of
chords can be built purely upon understanding guitar theory. It will also be a guide to
understanding how to create leads or riffs over the chords that you use within a chord
progression.

Guitar chords are one of the most important aspects of guitar playing. It doesn't
matter if you play acoustic guitar or electric guitar, rock, folk, jazz or classical; you need to
have a thorough understanding about chords. Since we know that most chords are built
around a triad of notes which consists of the first degree, third degree and the fifth degree of
a scale, we can build them anywhere around the neck provided that we know where the root
note of the chord starts. For example, since we know the notes of the C Major triad are; C
E G, we can build this chord all over the neck.

Now get out the guitar and go over the C Major scale and identify the root, 3rd and
5th notes and make the C Major chord. You should do this with all of the chords and
especially the Open Chords. Please review the Open Chord Chart provided for you in this
guitar enhancement guide.

CHORD POSITION THAT SHOWS OPEN C MAJOR

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 When forming a chord be sure that your finger tips are behind the wire frets so
that the ringing quality of the strum or pick of the strings is crystal clear.

The three notes per string method is a great way to practice so that you develop the
ability to stretch the hand and play more difficult chords and lead patterns.

Learn to play the C scale with 3 notes per string as demonstrated here.

In this photograph, I am demonstrating how the scale of C Major can be played where
there are three notes played on one string (5th). This is a great habit to get into to improve
your ability to play lead guitar.

Bar chords playing the blues also require a pretty good stretch.

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THE BASIC OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS

Below are blank chord charts. See if you can successfully fill them in.

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THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN CONSTRUCTING MINOR CHORDS

To make a chord into a minor triad or a Minor Chord the 3rd degree of the Major scale is
flattened and the fifth degree stays the same. One of the best ways to learn the triads is to
write out the notes of all seven of the major scales.

Here we will give you the Seven Scales and all of the notes within each one. You can
memorize this list or you can learn how to predict which note comes next based upon your
understanding of the Circle of Fifths. Write out the information on the lines provided.

C Major Notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B……no #‘s and no b‘s

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D Major Notes are D, E, F#, G, A, B C# ……… 2 sharps

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E Major Notes are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#...........4 sharps

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F Major Notes are F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E …… 1 flat

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G Major Notes are G, A, B, C, D, E, F# …….1 sharps

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A Major Notes are A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#........3 sharps

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B Major Notes are B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#.......5 sharps

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When you learn about the Circle of Fifths and see how the wheel is laid out similar to
a clock you will have another tool to enhance your guitar playing. The Circle is able to tell us
how many sharps or flats are in a given scale. And from here we are able to determine what
family of chords also goes with the Key Signature Chord. This will soon be demonstrated for
you.

There are guitar players who play great music and they never learned any serious guitar
theory and they have great feel so what is up with this phenomenon? Many of them think
learning this ―guitar theory‖ stuff is a waste of time. My hat is off to these cats that can play
almost anything by ear but then there are the rest of us. We can either be like them and
struggle to understand what chord is being played in a progression or have no idea how to
construct an original song.

You might run into resistance when you tell other guitar players tell you are learning
guitar theory. However, I can assure you that a bit of guitar music theory does wonders to
your guitar playing. Instead of memorizing a lot of guitar chord diagrams, theory gives you a
shortcut. You'll know how chords are built, what makes a chord major or minor and how
you can construct your own guitar chords. Learn a little bit of theory and save a lot of time
and needless effort.

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CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

This image of the Circle of Fifths should be imprinted into your brain.
Look at the Circle as a clock. It revolves around C Major and it helps us
understand the nature of scales and chord progressions. Soon in this
guitar guide, you will know why to learn this part about music theory.

When you hear the term, ―each one of the major scales is progressing up a fifth,‖ we are
talking about the Circle of Fifths. This is why we learn the term tetra chord. Because when
we learn the Circle of Fifths and we start on C Major and go up the scale. We play the scale
and then notice that after we have finished the tonic tetra or the first four notes of C D E F
we then come to the note of G. It is the dominant note of C Major and this now becomes
the first note of the dominant tetra chord or the fifth from which we determine the second
Key Signature on the wheel (Circle of Fifths). This is the pattern all the way around the
wheel.

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 This is the Key Signature for F and we know from the Circle of Fifths that there is
one flat and that is Bb.

Remember this brief explanation of the Circle of Fifths because we will be coming
back to it shortly. In the meanwhile let‘s cover some material that I am sure that you are
familiar with, and that is the Pentatonic Scales.

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 CHAPTER 10: MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES

T he Pentatonic Scales are most widely used scales in modern music. They are probably
in your repertoire to some degree at the present. When you are finished with this
chapter you will have a much better grasp of the 5 basic shapes and the nature and use
of these scales. I will do my best to explain them in a very concise manner.

―Penta‖ comes from the Greek word FIVE and ―Tonic‖ comes from the word tonal.
The Pentatonic Scales that we learn and play have only 5 notes as opposed to the Diatonic
Scale made up of 7 notes. Knowing our major scales helps us to understand how to
construct the Pentatonic Scale positions all over the guitar neck. Also, these Major and
Minor Pentatonic scales are very unique in that when their positions shift or are transposed
they are interchangeable from a Major scale to a Minor scale or vice versa.

The Major Pentatonic is a scale with only 5 notes in which the 4th and the 7th
degrees are removed from the Major Diatonic Scale. It is that simple.

The Minor Pentatonic is a scale in which the 2nd and the 6th degrees are removed
from the Major Diatonic Scale. However, the mino sound of the scale requires that the 3rd
degree is flatted along with the 7th degree being flatted.

The Major Pentatonic Scale is built on intervals

R-2-3-5-6

The Minor Pentatonic Scale is built on intervals

R-b3-4-5-b7

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 It would be great for you to practice your Pentatonic Scale exercises by working on
the fretboard chart identifying the Root, flatted 3rd, 4th, 5th and flatted 7th

You can memorize these scales or you can learn how to construct them all over the
neck. The choice is up to you. I will show you the five positions of the A Major and the A
Minor Pentatonic in the fretboard charts. Then you can figure out how to make these shapes
work for you and for all of the other Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales in the different
Keys.

Guitar legends have been made from these scales. Some of the greatest solos ever
heard come almost exclusively from either the Major or the Minor Pentatonic. It is my
suggestion that if you really want to get the hang of the Pentatonic Scales usage it would be
great for you to learn the way that Chuck Berry pioneered them in his classic song, Johnny
B. Goode.

The Blues Scale can really be seen as a Pentatonic with the ―passing‖ blues notes.

LEARNING TABLATURE

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 Tablature is a great way for guitarist to learn to play solos. When one is dependent
upon this method of learning guitar riffs and licks, it sometimes can hinder a person from
really learning the guitar neck. Combining Tabs with Music Theory would be the way to go.
Then the full nature of the scales can be utilized. However, Tablature is a wonderful tool to
allow people to learn to play the lead patterns of great music.

The good news about the Pentatonic is that it's one of the easiest scales to remember
and it fits in just about everyone's style in some way or another. It's commonly used in rock,
blues, country, jazz, folk, heavy metal, punk etc. When you get a better understanding of
them and then you analyze what type of scale a guitarist is using you will see that often times
it is the Pentatonic. One of the all time favorite lead solos in rock history is the one on
―Stairway to Heaven‖ by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page used an A minor pentatonic almost
exclusively for the lead.

When it comes to learning to solo these are most probably the scales that you learned
first. They are a box type in their shapes so they appeal to the logical deductive side of our
brains. The patterns are also easy to recall and can be played as 2 notes per string as well.
There are ample fretboard charts in this chapter so that you can work on the construction
techniques as well as the memory exercises of their positions on the neck.

These scales are also easier to remember because there are less notes than the major
and minor scales. Once again, the Major Pentatonic eliminates the 4th and the 7th of the
major scale. Also, by eliminating the 7th it opens up options for you when soloing. The 7th
note of the Diatonic Scale sets the flavor of the chord and in its absence the Major
Pentatonic Scale can fit over more chord progressions.

Every single Major Pentatonic scale for every single Key Signature follows the same
pattern:

Whole step - Whole step - Whole step and a half - Whole step - Whole step and a half

W ... W ... W + H ... W ...W + H

An awesome task for you would be to become familiar with the notes that are in each
of the Major Pentatonic Scales. It would be great for you to memorize or learn the Major
Pentatonic scale for each of the keys A through G. Provided for you is a chart that shows
every key's major pentatonic scale.

Let‘s start with the A Major Scale and look at the notes that comprise it.

A B C# D# E F# G

To make an A Major Pentatonic we eliminate the 4th degree which is D# and the 7th
degree which is G# thus leaving us with a scale of

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 A B C# E F#

Let‘s take a look at the notes that are played in the Major Keys of

ABCDEFG

Root 2nd 3rd 5th 6th

A B C# E F#
B C# D# F# G#
C D E G A
D E F# A B
E F# G# B C#
F G A C D
G A B D E

It is interesting observe that the Pentatonic Scales of C, F, and G have no sharps.

This awareness is made possible by using this type of guitar enhancement guide. These
Pentatonic Scales can be played over the Major chords of C, F, G. These are also the I-IV-V
chords in the Key of C Major. Try playing these three chords in a progression and see if the
C Major Pentatonic Scales can be played over all three chords. It should, because these
chords all have the natural notes of C Major.

Here are the notes for these Minor Pentatonic Scales

Root b 3rd 4th 5th b7th

A C D E G
B D E F# A
C Eb F G Bb
D F G A C
E G A B D
F Ab Bb C Eb
G Bb C D F

113
 One of your goals should be to learn the Major and Minor Pentatonic in every key
over the entire fretboard. Also, as you play them, pay particular attention to the difference in
sound between the two scales. The Major Pentatonic has a sweet, almost country flavor to it.
The Minor Pentatonic has a darker, more blues sound to it. Knowing this difference in
sound will help you to match your playing to the flavor of the chord progressions that you
enjoy.

The great thing about learning the pattern of the Minor Pentatonic shape (5th fret) of
Am is that this can be used over an A Major Chord. For instance, since the relative Minor of
C Major is Am, then a solo over the Am pentatonic can be used over a song that is in the Key
of C Major. The reason being is that C Major and A Minor share the same notes and they are
in the SEVEN chord family.

The two scales of the Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic are related. That is
because each Major Pentatonic shares the same notes with its relative Pentatonic Minor Scale.
It has to do with the understanding of Relative Major and Minor scales and chords. Since
these scales share the same notes the same is true about the Pentatonic Scales.

114
 This Major Pentatonic and Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale chart is a must to
memorize.

Major Pentatonic Scale Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale

A F#m
B G#m
C Am
D Bm
E C#m
F Dm
G Em

The study of the Circle of Fifths helps to identify the Relative Major to the Relative
Minor thus helping to understand this chart and then being able to apply the knowledge
directly to enhanced guitar playing skills.

115
A Minor Pentatonic slides down three frets to the Relative Major Pentatonic of F#m

Here is your Pentatonic Scale Exercise: Work the Major Pentatonic of E at the 12 th fret
and then transpose it to its Relative Major Pentatonic. Do you know which one that is? It is
on the chart on the previous page. It is C#m. The secret is to slide the whole E Major
Pentatonic shape down three frets to the 9th fret (C#m) and here you have the relative Minor
Pentatonic which is C#m.

THE PEN WORKS THE BRAIN IN THESE EXERCISES

E Minor Pentatonic Scale at the 7th fret and the 12th fret

This A Minor Pentatonic Scale at Position 2 is also a C Major Pentatonic Scale

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 The scale of the A Minor Pentatonic is able to be played over a C Major chord. Can
you figure out why this is so? Look at the notes in this scale. The 6th string, 8th fret is C. The
rest of the notes in this scale are all natural ones and they are able to harmonize with the
chord of C Major nicely. Can you see what happens if you move this shape down three steps
or frets? What type of Pentatonic does it become? The answer is A Major Pentatonic.
These fretboard charts work!

A Major Pentatonic At The 5th Fret And The 9th Fret Positions

Can you find other positions to play A Major Pentatonic on this fretboard chart? The
more that you practice these exercises the better you will access these pentatonic scales when
you play your guitar.

117
 This way of determining the transposing of the A Major Pentatonic works as well. If
you do not know music theory you can still logically deduct where the next shape should be
just based upon knowing where octaves and roots are located and how to transpose the notes
down five steps on four of the strings and four frets on one of the strings.

Transposing down five frets from the A string to the E string or from the D string to
the A string is indicated by the connecting lines on the previous fretboard demonstration.
The G string transposes down 5 frets to the D string too. The B string notes transpose down
4 frets to find the ―unison.‖ Remember that this term unison means that the notes have the
same tone or frequency.

Now that you are seeing the fretboard on its side, see if you can identify the
places to play A Major Pentatonic on this fretboard chart.

On the fretboard below let‘s see you figure out the D Minor Pentatonic scale staring
at the 5th string, 5th fret. You have not seen this shape in this guitar enhancement guide,
however you should be able to figure it out by using your knowledge of how to construct
Minor Scales and the rules that are used to construct a Minor Pentatonic. It does not matter
where you are on the fretboard. Pentatonic Scales can be constructed anywhere. Refer to the
charts already provided if you need help. It also helps if you have your guitar handy to work
your way through this exercise.

D Minor Pentatonic

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 Bb Minor Pentatonic at the 6th fret

On this fretboard exercises think about the pentatonic scale that you can use on the
solo of Johnny B. Goode. It is considered a ―blues scale.‖ It really is a combination of a Bb
Minor Pentatonic and a B Mixolydian mix. As you experiment with playing over 7th chords
you will find a great sound by combining these two scales.

Work the fretboard charts on a regular basis and with the improved knowledge
of the fretboard you will be flying all over the neck.

Memorize the fretboard in

chunks at a time so that you
know where your root notes
are located. From there you
can slip right into a
pentatonic scale and play
with confidence. Circle the
notes that make up the E
Minor Pentatonic starting at
the 12th fret. Look for the
pattern of natural notes and
you will discover that there
are no #‘s in this scale.

What scales can Em

pentatonic be played over?
The answer is G Major.
This way of discovering the
guitar neck will outdo
spending countless hours
fooling around on the guitar
without a clue about what
you are really learning.

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 At this point let‘s address the concept of the Blues Scales. They are really scales with a
chromatic blues notes inserted. On this diagram create an A Minor blues scale by inserting
an extra note on the 5th string, 6th fret. This note is D#. The other blues note in this A
Minor blues scale is the octave of the D # and that note would be at the 3rd string (G) and
the 8th fret. From these instructions see if you can construct this ―blues scale.‖

A Minor Blues Scale

Deep Practice and Perfect Practice produce great results

Remember when you are playing the Pentatonic Scales do not cheat and let the pinky
finger get left behind. There are lots of people who play lead guitar with only three fingers.
Even though they might develop a nice sound and have great feel and tone they are hindering
their overall development.

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 The theory behind enhancing talent manifestation at your guitar and musical
instruments in general is that super slow movements that are perfect in their execution get
hard wired into the deep strata of the motor cortex. When you get down into the 4th, 5th and
6th layers of the cerebral cortex (Chapter 2 of WBP) you are really getting into the
subconscious layers of the thinking brain. The movements become so automatic when you
begin to speed up the performance into real time you can sound like a virtuoso. So do it the
proper way even if it takes you longer to learn. Your friends will be blown away by how good
you get at guitar.

On the other hand, one of the secrets to developing speed at moving horizontally up
and down the fret board is to relax the pressure of the thumb against the back of the neck.
This ―touch‖ is something that you will develop over time. Perfect practice makes for great
guitarists. Get in the habit of alternating your picking techniques by making sure that you are
going from down stroke to up stroke. The exception is when you are changing from one
string to another and you want economy of movement and time.

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THE FIVE MAJOR SHAPES OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC
SCALES

Position 1 of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale is

played at the 5th fret.. This shape also can become
a Major Pentatonic by moving it to another
position on the guitar neck. Take this shape and
move it 3 steps down where the pinky is playing
the A note and we now have A Major Pentatonic.
A Minor Pentatonic Scale at fret 5

Position 2 of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale is

played at the 8th fret, 6th string. This same shape
moved three fret down would be an A Major
pentatonic. These 5 shapes are movable up and
down the fretboard.

A Minor position at the 8th fret

Remember the pattern on the 6th string always
matches the pattern on the 1st string. They are the
same notes in the scale and two octaves apart
from each other. These scales can over lap each
other and you can move horizontally through the
Pentatonic Scales as well.

This is A Minor at the 10th fret

If this position Four started at the 9th fret what

kind of Pentatonic Scales would it be, Major or
Minor? This would be an A Major shape starting
at C#. The third degree of the Major Pentatonic
is C#. Play this scale over an A Major chord and it
fits like a glove. What other minor chord will this
scale work with? How about F# Minor?
A Major Pentatonic at 9th fret

If this position 5 of the Pentatonic Scale is an A

Minor it would be at fret 15. The reason is
because the 7th degree of A Minor is G. Thus this
scale starts at the note of G on the 15th fret.

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If this position 5 of the Pentatonic Scale is an A

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE 5 SHAPES OF A
MINOR PENTATONIC

It is nice to be shown the five positions of the Pentatonic Scales and memorize them.
However, it is much better to know the theory behind the construction of these Major and
Minor Pentatonic Scales.

To construct an A Minor Pentatonic Scale, start at the root (A) which is on the 5th fret
and then use the shape that you have been given. You should be able to figure it out on your
own if you use the formula that fits all minor pentatonic shapes. That one is:

Root, throw out the 2nd degree, flat the 3rd, 4th degree, 5th degree, then throw out the
6th and flat the 7th.

Now here is the secret to play all five positions.

Position 1 is at the 5th fret. We should have this one locked into memory.

 Here I will demonstrate how to figure the positions of the 2nd Minor Pentatonic
position of A Minor. Note: When playing the A Minor pentatonic scales the first
note of the scales do not always start on the root of A.

Position 2 of A Minor Pentatonic is at the 8th fret. The note is C, which is the flat 3rd of A.
Here are the notes for the scale of A;

A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#

This note is C. Why is this so? If you look at the scale of A Major above it says C#.
Remember we are going to flat the 3rd to make it C for this A Minor Pentatonic Scale.
This 2nd position pentatonic scale starts from the note C which is the b3rd. Then we play the
4th (D), the 5th (E), the b 7th (G), the root (A octave), the b3rd (C), the 4th (D), the 5th (E),
the b 7th (G) the Root (A), the b 3rd (C), and the 4th (D).

Teaching a man to fish

We have made it across 6 strings and each string has two notes played. There are 12
notes played on this position. It is also to remember that the 6th string and the 1st string are
containing the same notes and this is true for the entire Major and Minor Pentatonic scales.
This is a lot of work for me to demonstrate and for you to assimilate but I believe that you
are getting the hang of it now. I will not write out a detailed explanation of each pentatonic
position for you but I will leave it up to you to explore the manner in which they can be
constructed. It is like the old saying; ―You can give a man a fish or you can teach him to
fish.‖ As you tackle the challenge of learning to build pentatonic scales all over the fretboard
your freedom to solo will go off the charts.

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POSITION 3 OF THE A MINOR PENTATONIC STARTS AT THE 10TH FRET (D)

The reason is because the 4th degree of A is the note D and this A Minor Pentatonic
Scale starts on the 4th degree. The pattern always stays the same. Eventually you will hear the
―pentatonic sound‖ and you will realize whether or not the notes you are playing are the
―RIGHT‖ notes.

FRETBOARD CHARTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE PENTATONIC

SHAPES

Just for kicks fill in a couple of positions of A Minor Pentatonic Scales

It is interesting that a lot of playing of riffs happens between the positions of the 12th
and 15th fret. Do you think that some of the greatest leads and riffs ever recorded in rock n
roll music that are played in this position on the guitar neck, have something to do with the
notes of the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales being mostly natural notes? Think about it
for yourself. In the area between the 12th and the 15th fret there are 24 possible notes to play
and of those options, 17 notes are natural and only 7 notes are #‘s. Does this pattern exist at
other places on the neck? These questions are the result of curiosity and experimentation.

As you begin to use the paper to pen technique, you will start to discover the guitar
like never before in your playing days. The beautiful thing is that you are improving without
even touching the guitar at this moment. How could this be possible? It is because you are
reading this ―shortcut‖ guide to better fretboard knowledge. This in turn allows you to know
the chords and the scales that you are playing with the spatial map of the guitar firmly
established in your hippocampi.

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 IT’S YOUR TURN TO WORK THE MAGIC WITH THE PEN AND DISCOVER
YOUR PENTATONIC POSITIONS.

Think about a favorite song that you enjoy playing, and then create the perfect
pentatonic riff that will work over the chord progression of that song.

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL ELEVATE YOUR PLAYING

These exercises help with visualization and formation of permanent memory of the scales
that you are interested in mastering. Give it time to work for you and it will be off in a big
way.

A MAJOR PENTATONIC SHAPE USING THE A MINOR SHAPE

On this fretboard chart look at the way that the A Minor ―shape‖ can be used for an
A Major Pentatonic. The secret is to side the whole pattern down three frets. Now the A
Major Pentatonic position can be played where the (A) starts on the 6th string, 5th fret.
Remember the pinky finger should be placed at the 5th fret. The other name for this scale
would be F# Minor Pentatonic. The root of this scale is F#.

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 THE INTERCHANGEABLE PENTATONIC SCALES

This method of working these fretboard charts will help you have a fantastic
understanding of the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales. This A Minor Pentatonic shape
slides down three frets to take on an A Major Pentatonic shape. It technically is called F#
Minor Pentatonic. The relative Minor of A Major is F# minor, so the scales have the same
notes. We have learned this from our study of Music Theory.

E MINOR PENTATONIC

On this fretboard chart, find the E Minor Pentatonic at the 7th fret 5th string and at the
12th fret 6th string.

B Minor Pentatonic

On this fretboard chart, find the B Minor Pentatonic at the 7th fret, 6th string. Then
chart out the B Minor Pentatonic starting on the 5th string and at the 14th fret.

These are some of the positions that David Gilmore of Pink Floyd uses in his solo on the
masterpiece, Comfortably Numb.

To close this chapter, see if you can give a summary of what you have learned about
Pentatonic Scales. On the space provided, please write out briefly what you know about
constructions of both Major and Minor pentatonic scales.

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 THE SUMMARY OF PENTATONIC SCALES EXERCISE

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 PENTATONIC SCALES SHAPES IN FIVE POSITION

To close this chapter and see what you have learned, demonstrate your understanding
of the five shapes of the Pentatonic Scales. Take notes and act as though you are teaching a
beginner the method of constructing the Pentatonic Scales.

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 CHAPTER 11: THE MODES OF THE DIATONIC SCALE

A t this point it will be a good time to explain the different modes of the Diatonic Scale.
My system is called ―I‘D PLay eM AL‖ (PEG SYSTEM). This correlates to the 7
modes of the scale and how it works off the Diatonic Scale. Learning the SEVEN
MODES starting from C Major is where we will begin.

These patterns that you will master can be transposed all over the neck. Those modes
are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. My acronym is
I'd play em all. The Ionian is the major scale and is sounded out as in do re me fa so la ti
do. This sounding out of the Major scale is called Solfège.

The explanation is simple if you understand that the Dorian is the pitch of the second
note in the C Major scale and that note is D is now the root note or TONIC or RE. Sing out
the scale of DO RE ME FA SO LA TI DO (Ionian). Now sing out the scale of RE ME FA
SO LA TI DO RE (Dorian). Please do this exercise with your guitar. You will hear the
same notes but each scale has its own mood.

Notice that the pitch is not the same as the Major Scale of C and it has a scale or
Mode (Mood) that goes better with a minor chord. The note D is now the tonic of this scale.
When a chord is constructed it will be D F A and thus results in a minor triad or minor
chord. This chord is Dm. You will find that the D Dorian scale has a minor quality to it and
fits nicely over the chord Dm.

Let‘s begin our overview lesson with the 7 modes of the Diatonic Scale. The Greeks
developed the system by which our modern music is established. They realize the moods of
the Major and minor scales could be broken down into 7 modes. These modes are named

Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian

I’ D P Lay eM A L.

Or my acronym would be I’d Play Em Al

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 Please write out the seven names of the seven modes of the diatonic scale and the way
that the acronym can be used to remember them in sequence. Notice that the capital letters
stand for each for these seven modes. Again write out the sentence and put these modes to
memory. Soon we will learn which ones will be called into action.

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 At this point I really want you to get inspired to learn this part of music theory because
it will release you from the bondage of playing box pattern scales where you feel constrained
especially when having the opportunity to solo. By learning in order; first the major scale
(Ionian) and being able to play it on any major key you will start the journey into playing nice
solos. As you master the Major Keys it is important that you explore the options of the
Seven Modes of the Diatonic scale. Not only will you have a great understanding of the
Major and Minor Pentatonic scales you will also have an expanded repertoire of scales to
synthesize into your playing.

Next is a sample of my penmanship that is increasing my knowledge of Guitar Theory.

This intense brain exercise works for anyone. Try it yourself.

The discipline of writing out by long hand (penmanship) the ―new information‖
regarding music theory is going to increase your brain power and simultaneously improve
your dexterity at playing the guitar.

131
 I encourage you to practice this discipline every day. Note that when we are learning
the Major scales we want to be able to play them all and at 5 Positions. We will learn the
Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic positions in the same manner. Then when you get
the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes mastered and then
integrate them into the solos that you play, the variety with your playing will astonish you and
others.

This is when the WBP guitar training will start to pay off for you. This occurs because
your memory is much improved and you are not intimidated by learning guitar theory and the
manner in which it can be readily applied to your musical aspirations.

Let‘s really get down to learning the seven modes of the Diatonic scale. We already
have our major scales under our belt. Now let‘s realize that for all purposes there are certain
scales that we will be learning that will have more importance for you than others. The most
commonly used scales for our purposes would be the Ionian, the Dorian, the Mixolydian
and the Aeolian.

The modes of Phrygian, Lydian and Locrian are still important scales but for this
guitar enhancement guide we will not be spending time with these because of time
constraints. However, because of the way that you are training at this program you will have
the knowledge to figure out PHRYGIAN, LYDIAN and LOCRIAN Modes on your own.

THE DORIAN MODE

The modern D Dorian mode is a strictly diatonic scale corresponding to the white
keys of the piano from "D" to "D". It has the ascending pattern of:

Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step -
Whole Step or simply;

w-h-w-w-w-h-w.

It can also be thought of as:

Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone – Tone

T-S-T-T-T-S-T.

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Examples of the Dorian mode include

• The D Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the C major scale starting on D.

• The G Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the F major scale starting on G.

• The E Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the D major scale starting on E

See if you can write out the Dorian modes in the Major Keys of A, B, F and G. Space is
provided for you.

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Use your powers of observation and realize that the Dorian mode is symmetric,
indicating that the pattern of tones and semitones (T-s-T-T-T-s-T) is the same ascending or
descending. Soon we will be having you playing this mode in your sleep. For now, approach
this guide with a serious attitude and do the drills and write down the things that you are
discovering as often as you see fit.

D DORIAN SCALE FRETBOARD EXERCISE

133
 Work the fretboard charts as often as you can because this ―outside of the box‖
training will allow you to solo wit

h tremendous confidence. As you work the charts and take notes on this information
it is going to get downloaded into your brain and it will stay with you as well. Now when you
have a chance to solo over a Dm chord you might remember that you can use the D Dorian
scale. And because you have knowledge of the D minor pentatonic you might blend the two
scales into a rather tasty bluesy lead pattern. This is where the WBP guitar training takes
effect.

Work the fretboard charts from the sideways position. This is how you see the neck.
Make another Dorian Scale pattern from the 10th fret and try the three notes per string
method of moving up the scale.

134
 We've established earlier that you can play a Dorian mode on a minor chord, to give
you a specific sound. Now, since we know that the Dorian mode is simply a major scale
starting on the second note, we know that we can use both scale patterns to give us a Dorian
sound. For example, let's say we wanted to solo over an A minor chord using an A Dorian
mode. We know also know that A Dorian = G major, so we know that we can use the G
major scale to solo over that A minor chord. We are also able to use an A Dorian scale to
solo over a G Major chord.

The above applies to all major scales - the Dorian mode starts on the second degree of
any major scale. The D Dorian mode comes from the C major scale, the G Dorian mode
comes from the F major scale, etc. If we were to write out the notes in the above scales, here
is what we'd find: the G major scale has seven notes G A B C D E F# (each of which are
repeated). The A Dorian Scale has the notes A B C D E F# G. Notice that both scales share
exactly the same notes. This means playing a G Major Scale or an A Dorian Scale will result
in the same notes being used however the A Dorian has a Minor sound to the scale. Soon I
will show you the way that you can identify the minor quality to the mode with a simple
formula.

There are fun ways to practice the Dorian Scale. One can jump from the scale of C
major to D Dorian and create a beautiful sound. If you are aware of the chord changes in a
song and you learn to solo over the chords and move from one mode to the other (Dorian to
Ionian). It is fun to practice. Let‘s start with the chord of C Major and play D Dorian with
it. We are essentially playing the same notes but we are getting a completely different sound.
One can make a run up the scale of D Dorian then come back down the scale in C Major.
Thus D Dorian can be played when the song is in the Key of C Major and the C Major can
be played over the D Minor chord.

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 THE DORIAN FRETBOARD CHART EXERCISES

On this page the drills are to take the fretboard charts and really get the Dorian
Scales wired into your memory. Each chart should be filled in with the Dorian Scales.

A DORIAN SCALE

Start at the 6th string and the 5th fret and find A Dorian up through two octaves. Then
create another A Dorian from the 5th string 12th fret.

E DORIAN SCALE

Start this scale at the 5th string, 7th fret and move the pattern through two octaves.
Find another section of this fretboard to play E Dorian.

DORIAN SCALE

Make a run of G Dorian starting on the 6th string and the 3rd fret. Move up on this
run playing three notes per string up through two octaves.

136
 The drills that you have done on this page will immediately translate into a greater
awareness of the potential that the fretboard has to offer. Play these Dorian scales over the
minor chords that are the Key Signature of so many songs that you hear. You will be amazed
at how good your solos will sound.

Once you've got the Dorian Scale locked solid in your memory, you can start trying to
improvise using the Dorian/Major Scale patterns. Soon your fingers will have a mind of their
own. Get a backing track off YouTube and practice playing your G major/A Dorian scale
positions over your creations. Spend a lot of time with this and be intuitive and creative. Try
mixing it up a bit with scales from the A Minor pentatonic, the A blues scale, A Dorian, or A
Mixolydian.

MIXOLYDIAN MODE

The determination can be derived from the Circle of 5ths

Where Does the Mixolydian Scale Come from? It comes from the fifth degree of the Major
Scale. For instance if we use C Major and we move up 5 degrees, we are at the note G. So
the pattern of notes will be the same as the C Major Scale but now the tonic (root) note is G
and there is a distinct difference in the sound of this scale.

Once you start to do the fretboard exercise with the Mixolydian Scales you will
recognize that the A Mixolydian scale is really just an A7 arpeggio with some passing tones
installed between the chord tones. This is an awareness that will happen to you because of
the way you will be training your brain. Then to be able to learn Music Theory, a study which
most people think is difficult information, will be a rewarding experience for you.

Then once you ―get it‖ you will start to play a blues song and immediately slide into a
scale that compliments the sound of the A7 chord. It is this arpeggio sound that is the
backbone of the chord and this is the dominant chord and you will dominant with your
playing. So when you are jamming to a chord progression of a I-IV-V and you are in the Key
of D Major you should be well aware that an A Mixolydian scale is a perfect fit for the song.
When the dominant A7 chord rolls around and builds the tension in the song you will be able
to go beyond the predictable ―Pentatonic sound. You will have the arpeggio sound that the
Mixolydian has. Now let‘s look at the notes in the Mixolydian scale and compare them to D
Major:

Notes in D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

Notes in A Mixolydian: A, B, C#, D, E, F#,

Notice that the notes in each of these groups are the same. The difference is that each
group starts and ends on a different note.

The Mixolydian scale is another example of a mode. Notice the word ―mode‖ and
realize that it implies "mood.‖ Different modes produce different moods. The Mixolydian
mode is a great for the blues. Maybe in the past you have always resorted to using Minor
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Pentatonic licks for your blues playing. Now you will have a whole new flavor with the
Mixolydian Scale and you will be able to slide from one scale to the other in an almost
seamless fashion.

Let me give you some real fun homework. Take one of the best training songs for
your new found skills at combining blends of the old and new and learn the classic riff from
the American Classic;

Johnny B. Goode

Chuck Berry is one of the most influential guitarists in the blues genre and he would
certainly be proud to hear you do justice to his song. It is highly recommended that you learn
the riffs that he uses in the main solo. By doing so, you will discover the integration of the
Minor Pentatonic Bb and the use of the Bb Mixolydian. You must be aware that the Bb7
chord that is played is a perfect match with the Mixolydian.

Just get out your guitar and play the Bb7 chord and then look for the G string 7th fret
(D) and this is the magic note that is necessary to play the solo. Well this note is not in the
Minor Pentatonic and it is not a passing blues note either. Instead, it is the 3rd degree of Bb
Mixolydian and that is an arpeggio note of the chord of the Bb7. Now with the blend of
these two scales you can really play an awesome lick.

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 Scale of G Mixolydian

You don't have to be restricted to using the Mixolydian just for blues playing. You
can generally use a Mixolydian scale any place where you can use the dominant 7th chord
that's based on the Mixolydian.

Now let‘s use the application of this information and utilize the Mixolydian mode.
Let‘s say that we are in the Key of C and we are playing a chord progression of

C-Am-F-G-C or I-vi-IV-V-I

All of these chords are in the family of the key of C major. What dominant 7th chord
goes with the key of C major? It would be G7. You can play a G Mixolydian scale on top of
this progression and it fits like a glove.

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 Notes in G Mixolydian: G, A, B, C, D, E, F,

If you're instead working with the chords A, D and G which are all in the key of D
Major, you can use notes from the A7 chord, or A Mixolydian, for playing over the
progression. This is because A7 is the dominant chord (V) in D major, and A Mixolydian is
the mode or scale that emphasizes the A7 chord tones.

Notes in D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

Notes in A Mixolydian: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G

Get the pen fired up again and get this information flowing to the paper ..You
will be grateful that you did.

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Notice that the notes in each of these groups are the same.

he difference is that each group starts and ends on a different note.

The A Mixolydian Scale is the fifth mode of the D Major scale. This modern scale has
the same series of tones and semitones as the major scale, except the seventh degree is a
semitone lower. It looks like this;

A B C# D E F# G

T T S T T S

The Mixolydian Scales and the blues go hand and hand. That is because the 7th quality
chords such as A7 or G7 are common for blues playing or the ―Blues Scales.‖ Actually, the
blues scales are really Pentatonic Scales with passing chromatic blues notes. with the
Mixolydian as well.

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ARPEGGIOS FOR THE BLUES

The arpeggios also work well with the blues. However, you don't have to be restricted to
using these Mixolydian scales just for blues playing. You can generally use a Mixolydian scale
any place where you can use the dominant 7th chord that's based on the Mixolydian.

For example, let's say you're playing this mini-progression: A, G, and D. All of these
chords are in the key of D major. What dominant 7th chord goes with the key of D major?
The answer is A7. Therefore you can play an A Mixolydian scale on top of this progression.
Sometimes the A7 chord is the I chord but that does not matter because the blues has a
property about them that allows for a bit more artistic license.

If you're instead working with the chords E, D, and A, which are all in the key of A
major, you can use notes from the E7 chord, or E Mixolydian, for playing over the changes.
You can do this because E7 is the dominant 7 chord in A major, and E Mixolydian is the
mode or scale that emphasizes the E7 chord tone.

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL MAKE YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY LEAD

GUITAR WAY BETTER THAN THOSE THAT DO NOT HAVE THIS
KNOWLEDGE.

There are always exceptions to the rule.

Here is an awesome thought to digest. Let‘s say that we are playing a song in C Major
and you have this G Mixolydian Scale wired into your brain and you can play it ALL over
the guitar neck, you will have a blast at playing a 12 bar blues with this knowledge.
Remember that the 5th degree of C Major is G and the dominant chord in a blues progression
is often G7. This G Mixolydian scale fits perfectly. Look for the Arpeggio of G-G-D on the
fretboard. Can you find it?

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 Here a fretboard chart that I have demonstrated for you. I identified the arpeggios
from the G Mixolydian scale. It is now right here for you to practice on any time you have
the urge. Keep on reading through this tutorial and come back to these pages when you are
ready to build upon your arsenal of Mixolydian scales that you can access at will.

This G Mixolydian is a perfect fit over a G7 chord. This fretboard shows that you can
hit all the arpeggios which essentially are the notes of the 1-3-5-7 of G7.

Mixolydian fretboard Exercises

B Mixolydian Scale

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 F Mixolydian Scale

At the same time you are building this scale, identify the arpeggios as well.

Mixolydian Scale

On this page identify the notes of the G major scale. You can see the arpeggios
because they will be the darkened circles. Refer to the way that I did this exercise for you.
You will discover so much about the fretboard by taking the blank ones throughout this book
and working out Major and minor scales all over the neck.

Mixolydian scale of your choice

Work your fretboard exercises for these charts in this guide and choose the
Mixolydian Scales that you want to learn. See if you can find scales all over the neck and up
through 3 octaves. Go back to some of the previous charts and apply yourself.

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 Work your fretboard
exercises for these charts in
this guide and choose the
Mixolydian Scales that you
want to learn. See if you
can find scales all over the
neck and up through 3
octaves. Go back to some
of the previous charts and
apply yourself.

See if you can identify notes

all over the neck very
quickly as though it is a
subconscious decision.

Look for the CAGED system in this exercise as well. Can you see the 5 basic chord
shapes of G E D C A? Remember that the order of the system is always the same and these
shapes overlap each other as well. Practice the habit of taking a blank fretboard and
identifying the notes of the Major Scales to identify the Root, 3rd, 5th and you will totally
open up your awareness of the different chord voicings that you can use in your playing.

You will be surprised about how easily it is to utilize an arpeggio as you are playing the
different scales you have learned.

Please write out in your finest penmanship the following sentences so that it becomes
engrained in your hippocampus structure.

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A Mixolydian comes from D Major

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B Mixolydian comes from E Major

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C Mixolydian comes from F Major

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D Mixolydian comes from A Major

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E Mixolydian comes from A Major

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F Mixolydian comes from B Major

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G Mixolydian comes from C Major

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 MIXOLYDIAN SCALE EXERCISES WILL HELP YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY
THE BLUES

Isolate Bb Mixolydian and you will have a great scale position to access when you
play a song such as Johnny B. Goode. Work this exercise on the position of where you
would play a Bb7 chord. This would most likely be at the barred 6th fret.

On these lines provided page give please give a brief explanation of what you have
learned about the Mixolydian Mode and how it can be used in your playing of licks and riffs.
Use your finest penmanship and prove to yourself that you understand the theory behind the
Mixolydian Mode and its application. Remember that the best way to learn is to teach to
others.

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THE AEOLIAN MODE

In modern usage, the Aeolian mode is the sixth mode of the major scale and has the formula
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7. From the point of view of its relative major key, the Aeolian tonic chord
is the submediant minor triad (vi). For example, if the Aeolian mode is used in its all-white-
note pitch based on A, this would be an A-minor triad, which would be the submediant in the
relative major key of C. Aeolian is a wonderful sounding scale and fits beautifully over songs
that are played in a Minor Key.

The Scale of A Aeolian

On the next page there are 4 fretboard charts where you can explore the use of
Aeolian Scales. These scales have a great minor sounding flavor to them. Be creative and use
the knowledge that you have acquired in this chapter to figure out where to play these scales
at different positions on the guitar neck. Get backing tracks of any one of the many available
on the internet and have fun soloing over these downloaded tracks that have a Minor Key
Signature.

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 FRETBOARD EXERCISES FOR AEOLIAN SCALES

On this page identify the notes of the Aeolian scales for the Key Signatures of songs
that you play and then create Aeolian Scales for them. Try out scales for the chords of Am,
Dm, Bm and Gm

A Minor Chord works well A Aeolian

Identify the notes of A Aeolian on this fretboard chart

B Aeolian

D Aeolian

I GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT TO DOING

THESE EXERCISE YOU WILL PLAY LICKS, RIFFS AND SOLOS AS NEVER
BEFORE.

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THE PHRYGIAN MODE

Phrygian Mode is also a Minor Mode and works really well on heavy metal

It is a relatively easy scale to play. This mode also is a minor sounding scale since it comes
from the third position of the Diatonic scale. If we are using C Major then the third degree

Work this fretboard chart for B Phrygian

Phrygian Mode

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 Now we can use the E Phrygian mode when we are playing over an E Minor chord.
We also can use E Phrygian when we are soloing over a G Major Chord. Why is true? It is
because Em is the relative minor of G Major.

The notes of E Phrygian are E-F-G-A-B-C-D and they also can be played over a C
Major chord. It will have a different sound (minor) than the scale of C Major but since we
know all of the relative chords that go with C Major we are safe to say that the Phrygian scale

Get out the guitar and practice making runs with the Phrygian mode. Watch great
guitarists use this mode in speed metal. The mode of this type of music works well with this
scale.

Give a brief description about what you know on the subject of the Phrygian mode as
if you were teaching someone.

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THE LYDIAN MODE

THE FOURTH DEGREE OF THE DIATONIC SCALE

Lydian Mode is the 4th degree of the Diatonic Scale. It is a major scale with the 4th degree
raised a semi-tone. For example, it is a C Major Scale with an F# rather than F natural. It
has a Major sound to the mood that it creates. The triads built on the scale degrees of Lydian
are major for the Tonic, Dominant and Supertonic. The triads built upon the remaining
three scale degrees are minor and the subdominant is diminished.

WRITE OUT THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH AND IT WILL MAKE SENSE SOON

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Now as you build the Lydian Scale think about the information that you just wrote
out. As you begin the Lydian on the Tonic F note be aware of the steps and the way that this
scale has its own degrees that can be made into triads that will have a major or a minor
sound.

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LOCRIAN MODE

The Locrian Mode is the7th degree of the Diatonic Scale. It has a diminished quality to it
and is used over diminished chords. For this tutorial we are going to show you the scale of
Lydian and give you some charts to practice on. See if you can use this scale and its ability to
be played with your music. You might find that there is not much use for this scale with your
style of music at this time in your playing of the guitar. This type of scale is used more in Jazz
with the diminished chords that are often used in a chord progression.

B Locrian

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 CHAPTER 12: THE CAGED SYSTEM

T he CAGED guitar system can be very useful to help you find your way around the
fretboard. The system is based on the relationship between common major chords
and major scale shapes. It is also a very useful method for visualizing chord tones
across the neck of the guitar. If you can easily find the notes on the fifth and sixth
strings of the guitar then all it takes is a bit of practice with the CAGED system and you will
be able to find any major chord tone very easily anywhere on the neck. There are two main
things you need to learn. The first is the order of the chords always remains in the same
sequence

It does not matter if you are starting from the C or if you were starting at G the order
would be G E D C A because after the D chord it starts over again from the C. This will
makes more sense when you can see the method that you will be exposed to in this guitar
enhancement guide.

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THE FIVE MAJOR CHORD SHAPES

There are five major chord shapes on the guitar that are used in the CAGED System.
These are all the shapes of the Open Chords of C Major, A Major, G Major, E Major and
D Major. Because you already know how to play these open chords we are now going to
expand your guitar vocabulary and ability to harness voicings of the chords that are able to be
utilized with your guitar. Essentially this system brings you into unchartered territory on the
guitar neck. REMEMBER THE NAME:

C A G E D.

These shapes can be moved all over the neck. So essentially when one knows the triad
of all of the chords in all of the Major keys, the CAGED System opens up a whole new
universe for you. For instance, the chord of A Major can be played at the 2nd fret on strings
2, 3, and 4. This same frequency of notes can also be played at the fifth fret with a bar chord.
So you have already been playing the system but you never really knew it. As you get excited
about this ―secret‖ which of course is not so proprietary amongst great guitarists, you will
automatically improve your sound.

The five shapes of the Caged System work for all of the chords of all of the Major
Keys.

The bar chord is one of the positions of the CAGED system.

This is considered the E SHAPE.

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 This is the 5th position of C Major using the D shape.

THE CAGED SYSTEM IS:

PRETTY SIMPLE IF YOU WORK OUT THE FRETBOARD CHARTS AND ONE
DOES THE ―PEN AND PAPER‖ WORK OR OTHERWISE IT WILL BE
CONFUSING TO YOU.

I took my WBP theory and practiced what I ―teach.‖ I drew a detailed illustration ―by
the good old fashioned way. The very act of taking the time to use pencil, paper ruler and
fine writing instruments helped me understand the system. Now I want you to experience
the same way of learning through my methods. that you will see on the next page. That is
why I am going to explain this chart for you and then you will be able to use the five shapes
of the CAGED System. Looking at the graphics provided, you might be a bit disoriented.
Relax, I will explain this Chart. We are going to find all five positions of the Key of A.

We start at position 1 which is at the 2nd fret. This is our first chord. That is the A
shape. Then we find the second A chord and it is a G shape that you can see at the 4th fret.
To make this A chord work, the 2nd fret needs to be made into a bar (you can use a Capo
too). I have already shown you a photograph of this position. It is a pretty good stretch. The
third A Chord position is a 5th fret bar chord. This is the E shape. The 4th A chord is
located at the 9th fret. This is the D shape. The 7th fret needs to be barred. The 5th A chord
can be found at the 10th fret. This is the C shape. The 9th fret needs to be barred in order to
make this chord work.

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 CAGED SYSTEM ILLUSTRATION

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

Study the picture above and note how the five chord patterns overlap with each other. Once
you get used to visualizing the CAGED chords across the neck like this you will find chord
tones very easy. Don‘t forget the order stays the same; G will always overlap with E etc. The
next diagram on the following page shows the same CAGED sequence starting from a
different place to give you the idea.

For the CAGED System to work it is important to learn all of the notes on the
fret board.

How are you doing in this note memory category? Do you believe that you might
want to go back to some of the earlier memory training and get the 138 notes set to memory?
You might want to get out your guitar at this time and practice putting your hands in a
unusual position.. The five positions of the CAGED System certainly require your brain to
adapt to the increased level of finger dexterity required to move into an elevated skill set. It is
highly recommended that you use a capo and slowly but surely find these CAGED
POSITIONS.

Before we go further do a quick refresher course on this fretboard for the memory to
stimulate your hippocampi. Now go after this fretboard chart with greater enthusiasm
because you know why the instantaneous access of notes on the guitar enables you to play
way differently than the former model of yourself.

Time yourself to see how quickly you can fill in the chart. It is fine to stop at the 15 th
fret for this test. Are you ready for the challenge?

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 Illustration by Michael J. Lavery

THIS EXERCISE IS EASY IF YOU FIRST FIND THE ROOT, 3RD AND 5TH

This exercise that I have done with the blank fretboard chart helps to locate the five
positions that you can play F Major on the neck. This is a very important drill in learning the
CAGED system. By learning the 5 positions of the F Major chord you will be identifying the
basic shapes of the CAGED system

From there the CAGED system is used. In this case I knew that I was starting with
the E Shape and that is the F Bar Chord. Then next pattern I look for is the D Shape.
Follow the diagram and it will be smooth sailing for you.

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THE BEST FRETBOARD EXERCISES POSSIBLE

E A D G B E

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery

The CAGED System opens up the fretboard and your head for so many options of
playing chords and lead patterns, arpeggios etc.

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 Remember the sequence always stays the same and it spells CAGED. Just because an
exercise starts with the E shape chord it still follows the sequence of letters;

EDCAG

Use the capo as seen in this photo to help really understand the system. The capo will
be placed at the 1st fret the 3rd fret the 5th fret the 8th fret and the 10th fret. It is really easy to
get once you have done the fret board exercises.

The Capo is very useful in understanding how the CAGED System works.

The capo really helps you to understand the caged system. Do you know what chord
this is that I am playing? It is a D shape. What is the triad of this chord? It would be C E G.
Therefore it is a C Chord with a D shape. This represents the last of the five positions that C
Major is played using the CAGED System.

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 Do you know what chord this is that is being played? It is a C Major in the D
SHAPE. This is the 5th position of for the chord voicing of C.

The CAGED System also helps us with playing the Major Scales. It is easy to get
used to the finding the chord tones anywhere on the neck as long as you can quickly find the
root notes on the guitar strings. When you learn the major scale positions for the guitar it is a
lot to have to remember. This gets even harder when you have to think about these positions
in twelve different keys. By combining the major scales with the CAGED sequence of
chords this task becomes much easier. By getting used to the relationship between the
chords and the scales you will start to realize that remembering these scale positions and
being able to find them in any key becomes a lot easier.

It is highly recommended that you work the fretboard charts and identify the Root,
the 3rd and the 5th of each chord of the Major Scale. This then allows you to use the
CAGED System to find the five positions that these chords can be played all over the neck.
This discipline also helps in understanding where the arpeggios are located for the scales and
riffs that one wants to play.

This next photograph shows the G Shape of the chord of A Major. Can you see why
this is true? Let‘s look at the notes being played. They are A, C# and F#. These are the
triad notes of the scale of A Major. We can use the Circle of Fifths to help us immediately
identify the sharps of any scale and then we can construct the chord easily. Otherwise it is
necessary to use rote memory to know all of these chords.

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 The G SHAPE for the 2nd position of A Major requires a bar position at the second
fret.

Study the diagrams below and practice playing with these chord shapes and scales
across the fretboard. It might seem a lot of work at first but you will get used to it quite
quickly. The CAGED guitar system is a great method to help you find your way around the
neck so keep at it and in a few months you should playing the guitar without thinking.

• Start by locating the Root Notes of each of these familiar chords:

• Each set of root notes forms a unique movable Octave Pattern:

• By laying these five patterns out so that they overlap each other in the order that spells
the word 'CAGED' we are able to chart every occurrence of any given note on the fretboard:

Once you finished all the basic theory and review of the chords chart lessons you‘ll
know all guitar chords you need to know and what's more, you'll actually know what you are
playing because you learned the music theory behind chords.

The CAGED System for the chord of A Major using the G SHAPE.

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Summarize in your best cursive writing what the Caged System is:

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LET‘S SEE YOU WRITE WITHOUT LINES. THE GOAL IS TO HAVE VERY LEVEL
WRITING.

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 CHAPTER 13: THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

T he Circle of Fifths is such a wonderful tool to have in one‘s arsenal in the journey to
playing great guitar. Why is this so? Because it ties so many abstract concepts
together so perfectly. This musical theory system has been used for centuries to
enable musicians to compose masterpieces.

Just imagine that you were a chemist and you had no knowledge of the Periodic
Tables. It would not be easy for you to be effective at your career. From an outside
perspective, it is common sense that a general knowledge of the Elemental Tables would
need to be locked into the chemist‘s memory as well as the atomic weight of each element.
Most probably a great understanding of the combining of chemicals would be very helpful as
well. It certainly would make the chemist do better than not being educated about how
chemicals react with each other.

Well, let us take your situation regarding your guitar playing and the desire for self
improvement. Do you think that having this ―HUGE‖ piece of the equation is for you?
Then if that is your feeling on the matter let us proceed.

This study is guaranteed to give you a better overall understanding of how the guitar
works for knowing the proper notes in a scale or chords for any given Key Signature. This is
all derived from the knowledge of the Circle of Fifths. In this guitar enhancement guide, I
have provided you with illustrations of the Circle of Fifths and the hints to help you know
how many sharps or flats are in any given key.

IF YOU CAN TELL TIME YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

As kids we were all taught how to tell time. This Circle of Fifths system that we are
learning is very similar. The 12 o‘clock position is reserved for the Key of C Major. This is
because ―C‖ has all natural notes. That means that the Key of C Major is NEUTRAL in
that it has no sharps or flats. G is the second Key Signature going around the wheel from
The Key of C and it has 1 #. Which sharp is it? It is F#. Where is F on the wheel in
relation it G? It is at 11 o‘clock on the wheel. It is the first of the 7 Major keys on the wheel
going in the clockwise direction. This direction is called the Circle of Fifths because above
the ROOT is five degrees or in this analogy FIVE minutes from 12 o‘clock.

This is a pattern that the wheel takes and it is easy to learn when you know how to
count and remember where the 5th degree of the scale of any given Key might be. In going
the opposite direction on the wheel (counterclockwise) it is considered the Circle of
Fourths. For all purposes though we will learn the basics of the Circle of Fifths going in the
clockwise direction.

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 THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

Rule of thumb for understanding the Circle:

5th below Root = 4th above Root

PRACTICAL WAYS TO PRACTICE USING THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

You also can grab your guitar at this point in the lesson and play C Major starting on the 5th
string and play the scale to the 5th degree. This note is G. Now using G as the tonic (root)
play the major scale out and name the notes as you play. They are G-A-B-C-D-E-F#. This is
a great way to practice the Circle of Fifths. You can do the same with the Key of D. D is at
the 2 o‘clock position on the wheel. How do we verify the position? Well is not D the fifth
degree of the key of G? Can you tell what the notes of the scale are without looking at your
guitar? The notes are:

D E F# G A B C#

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Write them out by hand at the present.

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We will be testing you in the workbook later so put this information to permanent memory.

Let‘s get back to our lesson on the Circle of Fifths. The 3 o‘clock position on the
wheel is reserved for A and it has 3#‘s. Can you name them without looking at the wheel?
The 3 #‘s are F#, C# and G#. How do you know that these are the ones? All you have to
do is study the wheel a little bit and draw it out on your own and start to reconstruct it from
scratch. Getting the guitar in your hands and playing the Major scale and singing the notes
aloud can help more than you can imagine.

Now which chords will be the sharps ones in the seven chord family that are related to
the Key of A? I just gave them to you. How are your hippocampi functioning? I am going
to inspire you to stay the course here because there will be moments of enlightenment

when this understanding begins to click for you. The #‘s can be determined by
referring to the wheel again and taking the F, C, G keys and making them the #‘s. They now
can join the 7 member family of the Key of A.

The chords to determine the 7 chord family of A Major can be found by using the
Circle of Fifth‘s Wheel and the formula of I-ii-iii-IV-IV-VI-vii dim and now the drum
roll………The chords for A Major are:

A-Bm-C#m-D-E-F#m-G#dim

The Key of E has 4 #‘s and they are….F#, C#, G#, D#.

The formula gets us the 7 chord family of the Key of E Major to be:

E-F#m-G#m-A-B-C#m-Dim

This is when you have your guitar handy so as to play this and the rest of the chord
sequences that you are learning from this Circle of Fifth‘s course.

Can you figure out the number of sharps in the Key of A Major and which ones they
are? We already went over this key. Let‘s see if you can calculate the family of chords by
using the information that you have been learning. Can you see where this type of training

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and. guitar theory might help you figure out songs as well aid you to construct you own songs
and chord progressions? As you continue to learn the ―wheel‖ it will always be there for you
for your entire career. That is why I encourage you to stay after this training and at the same
time do the assignments of filling in your own Circle Diagrams. As you get quicker at
figuring out the number of sharps that are in a Major Chord family you will then move on to
understand which chords go with the Flat Keys.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS PEG SYSTEM

Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bistro

F C G D A E B

In the Major Scale Lesson, we learned that "key" refers to the starting note (root) of
the scale. "Key signature" simply refers to the number of sharps or flats that occur in each
key. No two major scales will contain the same number of sharps or flats, so scales can be
easily organized by key signature. G is the 5th note of C Major. It is also referred to as the
5th degree of C Major.

Look at the Circle as a clock with each position representing 5 minutes. So from C to
G represents 5 minutes or 5 degrees. So G is at the 1 o‘clock position. D is at the 2 o‘clock
position because it is 5 minutes away from G or 5 degrees away from the TONIC. Here is
where originality and creativity comes into the equation and from this point it becomes
automatic to know scales and chords and what sounds right from the EAR and what sounds
right from the theory. When the two worlds synthesize it is beautiful.

These images below shows us the chords that go with the Key of C Major

It really helps to look at the G clef and see how the triads are actually stacked in proper
musical notation.

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 CIRCLE of FIFTHS

HERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO STUDY KEY SIGNATURES

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 Here is the List of the Circle of Fifths or

Key Signatures

Write out in your best penmanship the information provided.

C is the 5th note of F Major. It has no sharps or flats. It is at the 12 o‘clock position

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G is the 5th note of C Major. It has 1# and it is F Sharp. It is at the 1 o‘clock position.

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D is the 5th note of G Major. It has 2 #‘s and they are F# and C#. It is at the 2 o‘clock
position.

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A is the 5th note of D Major. It has 3#‘s and they are F#, C#, G#. It is at the 3 o‘clock
position.

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E is the 5th note of A Major. It has 4 #‘s and they are F#, C#, G#, D#. It is at the 4 o‘clock
position.

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B is the 5th note of A Major. It has 5#‘s and they are F#, C#, G#, D#, E#. It is at the 5
o‘clock position.

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We are going to stop this drill for now and later we will take up the rest of the wheel
as we discuss the movement in the counterclockwise direction. This is considered the Circle
of Fourths and these Keys will be the ones with the Flats. It operates very much as the Circle
of Fifths, however, the determination of the chords is now by the fourth degree instead of
the fifth degree.

In this section we will be going over the diagrams of the Circle of Fifths and the
manner by which we can know find the relative minor to any chord. I have taken notes
around the Circle of Fifths and I encourage you to also practice this technique.

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 On a bank piece of paper draw the circle on a regular basis as though you are teaching
it to kids in elementary school. Look for the patterns and work on your dexterity as you split
up the Circle of Fifth‘s pie. The goal is to make 12 equal slices so that we can now navigate
around the wheel and get a feel for determining the progression of chords and which scales
or lead patterns work over the chords that are in the songs you intend to play.

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

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 THE WAY TO WORK YOUR BRAIN AND SOLIDIFY YOUR
UNDERSTANDING OF KEY SIGNATURES

IS TO DRAW OUT THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS AND TAKE NOTES

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

―FAT CATS GO DOWN AND EAT AT ERNIE’S BISTRO‖

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 Do you remember using this mnemonic device earlier in our training? I hope so,
because this indicates that hippocampi structures are working to peak efficiency. The energy
that goes into this ―outside of the box‖ guitar training is directed to building your guitar
playing skills because it is no longer hit or miss when it comes to understanding how to make
a song and its chord and scale progressions sound great!

You will begin to realize this when you take an original song that you have been
working on and then analyze its chord progressions. Maybe all along you realized that
something did not sound ―right‖ and now you know why.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 1)

Show yourself that you can go to town on this blank Circle of Fifths and do it justice

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 On this page take the two circles and use them to construct what you know about the
Circle of Fifths. It helps if you use a ruler. Refer to the way that I took these circles and
made my Wheel and the Key signatures as well as the number of sharps and flats as they go
around the CLOCK.

Here are a few reminders for you. To find the names of the Keys from 11 o‘clock to
5 o‘clock, use the MNEMONIC DEVICE of Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bistro. To
move in the Flat direction or the counterclockwise direction remember that the WHEEL is
now the Circle of FOURTHS. This means that C is NEUTRAL (NO SHARPS OR FLATS).
F is 4 degrees from C and it has one flat. That flat is G b. Bb is at the 10 o‘clock position
on the wheel and we know this because Bb is 4 degrees from F

To figure out the relative minor that should be on the inside wheel under the Major
Key Signature create the 45 degree angle that we learned about. Remember C is at 12 noon
and E is at 3 o‘clock. This is the 45 degree angle that we are looking for to find that A Minor
is the relative Minor of C Major.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 2)

On this exercise for the circle of Fifths see if you can make the 12 slices of the pie and
identify the Relative Minors for the 12 Keys that go around the wheel. Remember about the
Enharmonic Keys. They are at the bottom of the Wheel. Refer back to the way that I took
notes around my Circle of Fifths diagram.

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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

To really make learning guitar songs worthwhile, one should be able to

recognize common chord progressions. This is done first by knowing a little about
recognizing keys.

We have seen that the basic guitar chords in the key of C major are as follows

C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim.

I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii dim.

This chord pattern is the same for every major key: Major-minor-minor-Major-Major-
minor-diminished.

So in the key of D, the same sequence would look like:

D-Em-F#m-G-A-Bm-C#dim.

Let’s review the all star lineup of the Chord Family and how to understand
Chord progressions.

The Circle of Fifths also tells us the family of chords that there are in each key and
how many #‘s or (b)‘s that there are in each 7 chord family. For instance, since the Key of C
has no sharps or flats then the family of chords that go in the Key of C would be deducted by
using the formula of I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi (dim) and the chords would be C-Bm-Dm-E-F-Gm-
Adim. This formula is determined by taking any Key and taking the triads of each scale of
the 7 notes that comprise the scale. For example let‘s look at The Key of C Major. The
Notes are:

CDEFGAB

So taking the second degree of C it is D. Now the D Scale has a triad that is
comprised of the notes D F A which is a Minor third or the chord Dm. This is how we get
the understanding of the formula mentioned above. Thus the second chord in the Key of C
Major‘s family of 7 chords is a ii chord. Now let‘s look at the 2nd degree (the D note) of the
C Major Scale: The triad is comprised of the notes:
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 D F A

From D to D# to E to F is a minor third and from F to F# to G to G# to A is a major third

thus we get the chord triad: D F A which is written:

1 b3 5

This results in a D Minor triad or Dm. D to F makes a minor third and F to A is a

major third: this structure is typical for every minor chord.

REMEMBER the 5th degree is called the perfect 5th. This means that the 5th goes
with a Major or a Minor Triad.

CHORD FORMULA FOR MINOR CHORDS:

I b3 5

Now write out this information by your best penmanship so that it sticks in your
memory. I know that it might be confusing for you now but when you write it out and you
count out the steps or semi tones you start to get the picture. This is making your right brain
and specifically the frontal and temporal lobes very aware of the spatial intelligence required
to become a good guitar player.

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Now to get this valuable information locked into our memory banks with the Circle of
Fifths get out the pen and write out completely in your best penmanship the following
paragraph.

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 Starting with the Key of C at the 12 o‘clock position the determination of the next
Key signature in the Circe of Fifths going in the clockwise direction is determined by taking
the fifth note (perfect fifth) of the Key of C (G). This note which is the 5th degree of the
Key of C is G and it is placed at the 1 o‘clock position. This Key signature of G has 1 sharp
and that is F#. This equation works for the clockwise direction of the Circle of Fifths.

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To determine the Key signature at the 2 o‘clock position take the fifth (perfect 5th) of
the Key of G and this note is D. Thus the Key of D is at 2 o‘clock and has two sharps in the
7 chord family. The #‘s for the Key of D are F# and C #.

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Now your homework is to figure out the Keys that fit at the 3, 4 and 5 o‘clock
positions. You have the acronym F C G D A E B (Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bar).
Here is a helpful hint (you can predict that the Key of D has A for its 5th degree and
therefore A is put at the 3 o‘clock position on the Clock. That means A has 3#‘s.

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 The secret is to figure out where the sharps go within the 7 chord family. Please bear
with me because we are coming down the homestretch here. When we get this knowledge
locked into our brains the guitar is going to be much easier to understand. You will know or
be able to predict the chord progression of songs by understanding the Circle of Fifths. This
will help you figure out how to play other people‘s songs or construct nice chord
progressions for your own song writing aspirations.

CHORDS OF A SONG AND THEIR PREDICTABLE PROGRESSION

Now let‘s cover an interesting thought about the predicting of chord progressions. First we
should review the 7 chords that are in the family of the Major Key. For all purposes we
will choose the Key of C Major. There are 7 chords in this family and each one has an
identity or personality. Chord 1 is the TONIC, the home chord or key to the song. Chord
ii is the SUPER TONIC. In a Circle of Fifths chord progression the super tonic naturally
leads to the dominant chord. So if we start with the C Chord in a song we are composing
and then we choose as our second chord say A Minor (6th degree of the key of C) we then
realize that Am should or could lead to V chord (G Major) (DOMINANT) and then most
likely the progression will move on to the ii chord (Dm) and then back to the TONIC of C
Major. Try it out on your guitar. It sounds pretty good! I bet that if you wanted to play a
solo over this I-vi-V-I chord progression that the G Mixolydian would be a perfect fit.
Again try it out with a buddy.

THIS IS WHY WE ARE LERARNING THIS GUITAR THEORY.

We will have a great sense of accomplishment when we can apply our solid guitar
foundation, enhanced motor skill controls and memory improvement to our guitar playing.

Now we are going to put it all together and finish this project off in proper fashion.
We are going to learn to play songs and make them work for a beautiful sounding experience.
The knowing of what to do and being able to do it is a great feeling to experience.

Now at this time write out the styles of music you want to play. Make these affirmations.
Write out in your best penmanship what you will want to be playing like in 90 days.

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 CHAPTER 14: THE 12 BAR BLUES

L et‘s learn the basics about the 12 Bar Blues. It is one of the most widely used chord
progression in popular music including the blues. In its most simplistic form it is
based upon the I, IV, V chords of a Key Signature. In music these are otherwise
known as the ―Big Three.‖ The 12 bar blues is a great way for any guitarist to get into
being able to jam with other musicians. One of the easiest 12 bar blues progressions is the I-
IV-V in the key of E Major. The chords are E-A-B and they can be played in the open
position making it easy for even beginner guitarists. Technically these chords are:

E5 A5 B7

It is also a progression that is easy to identify, making it a good start for you. One
should also be made aware that not all blues songs follow a standard 12-bar progression, and
that there are many variations within the 12-bar blues framework. However, for this brief
introduction we are only going to teach the most basic format.

The standard 12-bar blues consists of three lines, each with four bars, making a total
of 12 bars. It has what is known as an AAB structure. This indicates that the theme from the
first line is repeated with some alterations in the second line, and then a concluding theme is
introduced in the third line. Identifying the structure is a good foundation when you figure
out the chords to be played. Also, when playing the 12 bar blues you will see a heavy use of
7th type chords. These of course are in the family of:

A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7

If you play a 12-bar blues in E, a popular blues-key on guitar, you should learn to play
an E5 to A 5 chord to a B7 chord. This progression is the simplistic blues chord progression
to learn. The blues can be played in any key and as the term suggests it has a 12 bar measure
that works in its most basic form as follows:

Tonic (I) to the Sub-Dominant (IV) to the Tonic (I) to the Dominant (V) back to the
Tonic (I)

Take a song in the Key of E Major and make a 12 bar blues progression and it looks
like this:

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 E5 E5 E5 E5
A5 A5 E5 E5
B7 A5 E5 E5

Another way to look at this chart is to see it as follows:

T T T T
S S T T
D S T T

T=TONIC

S=SUBDOMINANT

D=DOMINANT

To really make this 12 bar blues concept stick here is the last chart.

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I I

Now that we `know how to put a string of 12 bars together it is necessary to be able
to connect them to another 12 bar measure. This is where the term 12 bar blues
turnaround comes into the equation. So in this case the turnaround is a string of notes
which usually is called a ―walk up‖ bringing us through the chord of the dominant V. For
instance in this case when using the chords of E-A-B7 the V is the chord B7 and this is the
one that we use in the turnaround. Think about the turnaround as a link that helps connect
the next 12 bars in the song.

My suggestion is that you watch guitar instructors on YouTube explain this method of
doing the turnaround. Once you get this new learned guitar procedure under your belt you
will have so much more fun playing with other guitarists and musicians. A suggestion to
practice is the 12 bar blues walkup turnaround. In simplistic terms it is a chromatic walk
up. Play on the string, open A, the 1st fret A# and then the 2nd fret B note as you then strum
on the V Chord of B7. From there you are ready for another 12 bar measure.

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 Here is a really cool secret to playing the 12 bar blues and get your singing and timing
right at the same time. Be uninhibited and sing out the following. So here we go

You sing it out as in

One and two and three and four

And two and two and three and four

And three and two and three and four

And four and two and three and four.

Now raise the pitch of your voice on the IV chord and sing

And five and two and three and four

And six and two and three and four

Now we go back to 2 bars of the Tonic and sing

And seven and two and three and four

And eight and two and three and four

Now we head to the V chord and sing for 1 bar of

And nine and two and three and four

Head back to down for 1 bar at the IV chord and sing

And ten and two and three and four

Go to the I chord and sing for 1 bar of

And eleven and two and three and four

And we finish on the 12th bar with a turnaround and sing

And twelve and two and three and four

If you practice drills such as the one you just cruised through you will get
smoother and more intense about the training because it really does the trick to get
you to keep the time and the awareness of the changes throughout the 12 bar
measure.
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 Make a serious effort to master the ability to do the turnaround because it is
considered a shuffle between the different sets of 12 bars to move from set of 12 bars on to
the next ending passage from 1 set of 12 bars to another set of 12 bars. The ability to make
this transition makes all of the difference in the world. to awesome jam sessions.

There are lots of guitar teachers on YouTube to watch and learn these techniques. I
have given you the very basics of the 12 bar blues and from here it is up to you to investigate
the chord progressions and the tempo that you want to play this style of music.

What is the attraction to the Blues?

Lots of people love to play the blues because it is real down to earth music. It has
humble roots in the hardships of life. It certainly did not originate in the upper class around
the world. It appeals to our souls and touches are hearts and that is why we like to play it.
This genre of music really allows for you the guitarist to put tremendous energy into it. It is
filled with tension and really is about making a statement.

The Blues does not necessarily have a very stable harmonic structure. That is why this
music has an edge or an attitude. It has the freedom to change keys. This modulation can be
ever so subtle but it certainly makes for the mood of the music. By your understanding of
the family of Seven Chords and the nature of the chords within them you will understand
when the subtle modulation in a blues song occurs

Thus far we have talked about how chord progressions usually resolve themselves to
the home chord...There sometimes can be two homes that you hang out at and in the blues
there is often modulation to another key and a 12 bar measure will be played at the vacation
home until it is time to get back to the main pad. Check it out for yourself and act as a
detective and scrutinize the construction techniques of blues songs and see and hear the
subtle modulations and how the influence the mood of the song.

CHANGING KEYS IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN

When you play a song and you know the chords that belong to a Major Key and you find
yourself playing a chord that is not related to the Key of question, then you have modulated.
It is that simple. And it is perfectly normal. There are countless numbers of great songs that
change keys and this is why they are so appealing.

Here is part of the investigative homework. Be very inquisitive about a song that you
have played on a regular basis and reverse engineer it in regards of the Key that it is played in
and the chords that are in the composition. Do you see chords that break the rule of the
formula for predicting the chords in a scale? Of course you do. What does this mean? The
song has changed Major Keys. Which part of the song did it change keys? Most often times
it was the bridge?

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 ―Supertonic‖ also refers to a relationship of musical keys. For example, relative to
the key of C major, the key of D Major (or D Minor) is the Supertonic. Modulation (change
of key) to the supertonic is relatively common and by far the most common modulation in
modern types of songs.

To review at this point, we remember that the tone which the song is based is the I
Chord. The V Chord is called the Dominant, The IV is the Subdominant. These are the
most prominent chords of a Key family and they happen to be Chords for the I-IV-V
progression that is the basis for most modern rock, blues, country and pop music. Follow
along and get excited about writing down this information because it is the secret to
unleashing your ability at playing the guitar with confidence as well as having the foundation
to start writing your own chord progressions for jamming with friends or even creating your
own backing tracks etc.

Write out at this time what you know about the I IV V chords and the equation for
determining the natural and minor degrees of the family of chords.

Now is the time absolutely put this together and play the best guitar of your
life.

This tutorial will show you that, because guitar chords for songs in the key of G
include one sharp (G-Am-Bm-C-D-Em-F#dim), you can identify a song in the key of G by
the single sharp on the staff:

This sharp note is F, so you will know, as you‘re learning guitar songs, that every single
F note in the song will, unless otherwise noted, be F #.

If you were to play a major scale in the key of A, can you figure out how many sharps
it would include? The notes of an A major scale are A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#. There are three
sharp notes, so the key signature will include three sharps:

Now let‘s take a look at the nature of how to string chords together so that there is a
pleasing progression. Let‘s start this exercise with C Major and the first chord in a
progression is established. What shall my second chord be? It can be any one of the other 6
chords in the family. So let‘s review and work on the ―formula.‖

Write this out and get ready to apply it to a chord progression using C Major as the
tonic and create a nice chord progression of your own by reviewing the family that you will
be working from. The formula once again is

I-ii-iii-IV-V (dom)-vi-vii (dim)

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 This equates to the chords of CMaj-Dm-Em-FMaj-G7-Am-B (dim)

Let’s Review and Finish Strong

The Circle of Fifths is also necessary to be able to

reasonably create the prediction of the chord progressions within a song.

Chord1→ to any chord

Chord 2→ to chord 5 (dominant)

Chord 3→ to chord 6 (minor)

Chord 4→ to chord 1 or Chord 5

Chord 5(Dom) → to Chord I

Chord 6→ to Chord 2

Now try out the formula for yourself and see if you can make it work for you. I will
help you out and choose the chord progression by establishing the most important choice
other than the tonic chord which again is in C Major. Let‘s try using Em (iii) for the 2nd
chord in our progression. The next chord should be Am (vi) and then Dm (ii) and then on to
G7 (V-Dominant) and then back home again to C Major.

This is a powerful formula for developing chord progressions and it must be stated
that the 2nd chord is the determining factor in regards to how the rest of the chords play out
in sequence. Realize that the resolution usually means that the song will get back to the home
chord most of the time.

Here is a helpful hint when constructing chords for songs. Have your Circle of Fifths
handy and when you choose the tonic (Key Signature) look at this chord as home base. As
you construct the progressions realize the closest chords on the wheel to the tonic chord will
most likely be used in the song and that the tendency is to leave home and go back home. So
if we have the first chord at C and then next chord is G refer to the wheel and it is the
neighbor of C. Then we might use the relative minor of C which is Am and that is easy to
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find. Look at the 3 o‘clock position and there it is. Draw out your circle by hand and now
start to make all 12 slots on the wheel just as you are making a clock. You should know all
the clockwise Keys in the circle of 5ths.

Look for the piece of the pie that creates a 90 degree angle and it is as simple as that.
I am teaching you a bit of theory that most guitar players shy away from and now I have you
plowing headfirst and at the same time. Hopefully, you are thirsty for more information.
Remember when the circle goes in the clockwise direction it is the circle of Fifths. When it
goes in the counterclockwise direction it is called the Circle of Fourths.

At the top of the Circle of Fifths diagram, the key of C has no sharps or flats. Starting
from there and going clockwise by ascending fifths, the key of G has one sharp; the key of D
has 2 sharps, and so on. Going counterclockwise from the top by descending fourths, the
key of F has one flat; the key of Bb has 2 flats, key of Eb has 3 flats and the Key of Ab has 4
flats and the key of Bb has 5 flats and then the key of Gb has 6 flats. Notice that Gb and F#
assume the same position on the Circle of Fifths. These are called Enharmonic Keys. Study
the wheel and get these positions put to memory.

The Circle of Fifths is used in music theory to represent the relationship between
Diatonic Scales. The numbers on the Circle of Fifths chart are related to the numbers on a
clock. This is how to remember the sharps or flats in a key. If A Major is at the 3 o‘clock
position it has 3 #‘s. The key of E is at 4 o‘clock and thus it has 4 #‘s.

Tonal music often modulates by moving between adjacent scales on the Circle
of Fifths. This is because Diatonic Scales contain seven pitch classes that are contiguous on
the Circle of Fifths. For this reason when one is constructing songs and creating chord
progressions it is useful to refer to the Circle of Fifths. Chords on the wheel that are next to
each often go well together in a song. It follows that in the Diatonic Scales, a perfect fifth
apart, share six of their seven notes. Furthermore, the notes not held in common differ by
only a semitone. Thus modulation by a perfect fifth can be accomplished in a very musical
fashion.

It is suggested that you often draw the Circle of Fifths to really get the understanding
of it wired into your hippocampus. Make a blank circle chart and fill it in and also makes
notes for yourself as I am demonstrating for you.

In order to remember which order that the sharps and flats of a key signature are
written, there are several mnemonics that can help. The order of the sharps is Fat Cats Go
Dining At Ed’s Broiler. From this you can say that if you know the key of E major has four
sharps, the mnemonic shows which sharps they are (F, C, G, D). The mnemonic for flats is
Big Eddie Ate Duck Goose Cake Fast.

Here is a question for you to see if you are following the training. If the song that I am
playing is in the Key of E Major which pentatonic scale would I solo with to achieve the
greatest harmony?

The answer is C# minor pentatonic.

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 C# minor is the relative minor of E major. The relative minor is always the best place
to solo, and it is easy to find.

C# has its root note on the 6th string, 9th fret. I just used my knowledge of Relative
Major to Relative Minor and take the 6th degree of the scale of E Major. Because I know the
Circle of Fifths the job is made easy for me.

Here‘s a Rule of Thumb to find the relative minor: simply go three frets down from
the major root note – in this case, use E at the 12th fret. In this case as we go down the neck
horizontally to C# to find the new root note to solo with over E Major. Because we have
the theory from the Circle of Fifths we are sure that the relative minor of E Major is C#
minor. That is because the Circle tells us that the Key of E Major has 4 #‘s in the chord
family and the chords would be:

E-F#minor-G#minor-AMajor-BMajor-C#minor-D#dim

I ii iii IV V vi vii

• Rule of thumb for understanding the Circle:

5th below Root = 4th above Root

The Circle of Fifths Helps to Find Notes and Chords in a Scale.

The notes in a scale correspond to the chord scale in the same key: This is how they line up:

C Major Scale C D E F G A B

Scale Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Major Chord Scale C C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

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THE REVIEW CONTINUES ON THE NATURE OF CHORDS AND THE
WAY TO FIND CHORDS IN A SCALE

We will use the ―Neutral‖ key of C is our reference. Because the Circle of Fifths can help us
name the notes in any major scale, it can also show us the chords in a major chord scale.
Here‘s how:

 Scales predict individual notes as well as chords

First, remember that any key has a set of chords which go with it, just as it has a major
scale of single notes. The major chord scale is shown above. Just like the notes, the chords
are identified as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The 8 chord is always the octave of the 1 chord. In the
major chord scale, the 1, 4 and 5 chords are all major chords — named the same chords as
the 1, 4 and 5 notes. In the guitar world, these are the ―BIG THREE‖ chords of every chord
progression — the 1-4-5 progressions.

In C, you‘ve played it many times: C-F-G. The 2, 3 and 6 chords in the chord scale
are supporting chords. They are all minors, and the 7 chord is a diminished or diminished
7th chord. Again, those are all named after the note whose position they represent. The
minor chords add color to what we play, but one of them is the primary minor chord —
often called the relative minor — based on the 6th note of the scale. In the case of C, it‘s
the A minor chord. Remember to use the trick we learned in using the Circle of Fifths to
find the relative minor. It is to move 90 degrees right from the root chord. So the relative
minor of C is A minor, since A is 90 degrees to the right of C.

Let‘s build the chords from the scale of C Major. Since the 2nd degree of C Major is D we
can build a chord from the D Major scale. We do this by taking the root, the 3 rd and the 5th.
Those notes that make up this triad are: D F A

D Minor Chord and its construction.

D F A

1 b3 5 …………This triad or chord is Root (D) flat 3rd (b3) and perfect Fifth (A)

This results in a D minor triad or Dm. D to F makes a minor third and F to A a major third:
this structure is typical for every minor chord.

Chord formula for minor chords: I b3 5 ……………….this means Root, flat third, perfect
fifth

Next we will build the 3rd degree of the C Major Scale:

E G B

I b3 5 ……….. This triad or chord is Root (E), flat 3rd (G) and perfect Fifth (B). This
makes the chord Em
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 It is great practice to do the whole scale of C in this manner. This will help you
understand the formula that is used to make the chord families that go with C Major.
Remember this formula is applicable to any Key. To review once again it is:

I----ii---iii--IV-V-vi-vii dim

C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim

Let's do one more together, let's built a chord on the 7th note of the scale:

C DEFGAB

B D F

1 b3 b5

This chord results in a B diminished triad (Bdim). B to D makes a minor third and D to F
also a minor third: this structure is typical for diminished triads

Here's a list with all triads made on the C major scale:

Notes Formula Name Symbol

1 C E G 1 3 5 C major C

2 D F A 1 b3 5 D minor or Dm

3 E G B 1 b3 5 E minor or Em

4 F A C 1 3 5 F major or F

5 G B D 1 3 5 G major or G

6 A C E 1 b3 5 A minor or Am

7 B D F 1 b3 b5 B diminished or Bdim or B°

So, with a C major scale: C-D-E-F-G-A-B, its relative minor, which is Am, contains
the same notes, but they start on A: A-B-C-D-E-F-G.

To determine a key‘s relative minor you must look at the sixth degree of the scale.
Therefore, in the key of G major, the sixth degree is E, so the Relative Minor of G is Em.
The sixth degree of C Major is Am and thus it works for all Major chords. Now to reverse
engineer it to figure out the relative Major of B minor you can go up the scale 3 degrees from
the 6th degree and you will have D Major.
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 Guitar chords for songs in minor keys are the same as with major key, except, like the
minor scale, they simply start in a different place. So chords in the key of Em are Em-F#dim-
G-Am-Bm-C-D. This now equates back to the formula where we know that the relative
minor starts at the 6th interval and so we begin at 6-7-1-2-3-4-5- or

vi-vii dim-I-ii-iii-IV-V

You can see that Em has the same number of sharp chords as the key of G.
Therefore, as you will continue to see while you‘re learning guitar songs, minor keys always
use the same key signature as their Relative Major. So, Em has one sharp, F#m has three, Bm
has two, and Am has none, just like its Relative Major C

Let‘s look at some chord progressions. Take the 12 bar blues and the blues guitar
chords which comprise them, which nearly always include the first, fourth, and fifth chords in
a key, that is, the I-IV-V. These three basic guitar chords are in nearly every Rock & Roll,
Country & Western, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae, punk, and heavy metal. The formula works
song regardless of what key they are written.

You should already know from the explanation in this workbook and the exercises
that you have completed that in the key of C, these I, IV, IV chords are C, F, and G. Now
when someone says we are playing this song in the key of Am and it is in i-iv-v you should be
able to figure out that these chords in the key of Am will be Am, Dm, and Em (or i-iv-v)

You should also be able to figure out the other possible chords that can be included in
this family of chords that are part of Am. Would they just happen to be the same chords that
are part of the C major family? Well let‘s see here. We can reverse engineer it and realize
that if a song is written in the Key of Am than there will be no sharps in the song. There are
none in the G clef. That is a hint right there. Here are the chords that would be in the Key of
A minor chord family. The formula again is vi-vii dim-I-ii-iii-IV-V so the chords are Am-
Bdim-C-Dm-Em-F-G

Now it is time for you to put to use all of this valuable information that you have
learned. If you have made a concerted effort to read this material and you have done most of
the assignments presented, you should certainly be able to navigate around the guitar with
greater ease and confidence. Your ability to play will be much improved. This Whole Brain
Shortcut to Guitar Mastery should be something that you revisit often. Add to what I have
shown you and continue in your exploration of your musical potential.

Finish off this last page with some positive affirmations about your 90 day goals and
what you intend to be doing at your guitar from here on forward. Remember the pen is a
mighty instrument and you will be amazed that by putting your visions concerning your guitar
playing to paper about how quickly they will become a reality. There is one more exercise to
do before the conclusion of this guide and that is the Circle of Fifths. Take notes, identify
the whole wheel and find the Relative Minor chords that go with the Major Key Signatures.
Show that you understand what the 5th of the chord is and why a scale is able to be predicted
from the theory of music. Show to yourself that on one piece of paper you can demonstrate

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your understanding of the guitar and its applications to being able to play the songs that you
love.

MY GUITAR PLAYING AFFIRMATIONS

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 CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL

In this exercise use a ruler and a pencil and pen and create an awesome diagram of the
Circle of Fifths. You should be showing the whole wheel or clock. Please show all 12 Major
Keys and how many sharps and flats that are in each key. Make 12 equal slices of the ‗PIE‖
and prove to yourself that you have a great understanding of what MUSIC THEORY IS
ABOUT on a simple piece of paper.

This tells the story of what you have been doing with your WHOLE BRAIN during
the examination of this material as well as how dedicated you were to developing the tenets
described in Whole Brain Power.

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXAMINATION

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 CHAPTER 15: CONCLUSION

I t is time for us to wrap up this Whole Brain Shortcut Power to Guitar Mastery. We have
covered lots of material, however, we have really only been scratching the surface of
what it takes to get good at guitar. You will get to that point by ―IGNITING THE
PASSION‖ for learning the instrument. Hopefully, you have been made aware that the
greatest instrument that you can ―fire up‖ is your brain. Actually, I should say it is your brain
hemispheres burning brightly together for a powerful flame fueled by activation of the Whole
Brain Powered way of thinking and being. This is what will take your guitar playing to
unimaginable levels. I can only share with you the ways to perform better, but ultimately, it is
your dedication to learning this challenging musical instrument the proper way that will lead
you on your guitar playing journey.

The most important elements to the program are that of the awareness of the Whole
Brain Power potential that you possess and the manner which you can access it. Hopefully,
you have learned much about how to train your brain to become very ambidextrous in its
processing skills and at the same time have a unique approach to training at your guitar
playing. There is no way that you can just nonchalantly peruse this material and say that I
have it. If you are totally serious about assimilating this complex, yet straightforward
information, you must go about it objectively.

There are a few fundamental questions that you must ask yourself at the present. ―Do
I believe that I have what it takes to play well at guitar and do I have the drive to plow
through some of the awkwardness that this initial brain and body transformation requires?‖
What changes have you been asked to undertake? It is very obvious. You have been
introduced to a very novel concept about rewiring your brain. Prior to this training you most
probably never seriously entertained the thought of becoming very ambidextrous at cognitive
as well as motor skill control functions. Then of course it has taken somewhat of a leap of
faith to commit to writing ‗backwards‖ or in mirror image penmanship with your left hand
and bouncing golf balls off of an array of hammers too. However, if you knew that going out
and howling at the full moon would advance your guitar skills significantly you would be out
there with a whole bunch of others that found out about the secret too. That is kind of
funny when you think about this scenario described. But you know that if it worked you
would be the first one out there on the hill.

What should one expect from this WBP program? It is what you put into it. If it is a
concerted valid effort on your part then you will have an enhanced organic computer that
supersedes the older version that you used to work with and that is a reality. From the
activation of the entire brain you will be able to fly high as an eagle. In this tutorial guide
there are lots of areas that I did not cover and I realize that you cannot please all of the
people all of the time. For those that appreciate my efforts, I hope you come away with a
sense of inspiration that you have the necessary tools to advance your guitar skills sets
because you have the formula that stimulates savant like thinking and actions. It will take
some time to digest the reading of this information and then do the practical applications to
the drills required in this document. By doing so you will have undergone some serious
disciplines with all of the charts exercises, handwriting and memory drills concerning my
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system for learning guitar. Most importantly, you will have a solid foundation for continuing
in your understanding of how the guitar experience can be thoroughly enjoyed.

Once you get past the introductions to the concepts of Whole Brain Power and you
experience some initial successes, it will start to sink in about how stimulating this new way of
doing things becomes. That is when the progress at your guitar will start to accelerate. It is
just getting over the initial shock that the ―active stress‖ of what the WBP program demands.
Think about the guitar shortcut that you have been given. Prior to the exposure to this
―revolutionary theory of ambidexterity‖ you believed that playing guitar a lot was the only
way to really get better. Then after that did not work you then resigned yourself to
mediocrity at your guitar playing. My mission is to change your belief system and I guarantee
you that by staying on the rails as far as the WBP advice is concerned, you will improve at
your musicianship in a major way.

I have lived and breathed this WBP lifestyle for over 25 years and my own
transformation in memory enhancement, hand to eye coordination involving guitar, golf and
tennis is well documented. I have transcended the point where I am not just a freak of nature
but someone who has a bona fide methodology that can be assimilated and is able to be
transferable to others and quickly too. It really comes down to the concept that seeing is
believing and then when that occurs, the floodgates open up in the minds of people that there
are possibilities beyond what we know. Logic dictates that if we had the opportunity to
download greater coordination and RAM powers into our brains, then we would. Well, we
can and we can have it for a free. All we need is the spark to ignite the passion and have
acceptance that we are in charge of the destiny of our brains capacity for learning and talent
manifestation. So if getting better at guitar is your priority then activate the engines and strap
on your seatbelt.

Personally, I have enjoyed mentoring individuals that have the passion for learning
burning inside of them. If that is the case with you, then it is only a matter of time before
you break on through to the other side. I have witnessed people take to my teachings and
absolutely go off the charts in many areas of learning and skill manifestations that require
tremendous brain usage. Playing good guitar happens to be one of these endeavors. To
become excellent at the instrument necessitates the activation of the whole potential of your
brain. Science proves the neural plasticity theory and technological imaging demonstrates
that musicians have enlarged brain features bilaterally because of their dedication to their
craft.

So now that you have the irrefutable evidence about the brain and musical training it is
only you that can act upon the improvement recipe. You must be aware that if you are able
to learn the tenets prescribed in my program that you will initiate a change to both cognitive
as well as procedural memory enhancement. What will this do for your guitar playing? It
will certainly improve your skills in quantifiable ways.

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LET US REVIEW WHAT WE HAVE COVERED

To close, I trust that we are in agreement that the improvement of the overall function of the
brain leads to neural expansion and thus greater cognitive as well as well as motor skill
function.

Hopefully, you are going to make a commitment to becoming much more

ambidextrous at daily skills that are the tenets of WBP. Besides the hammer drills and the
dual handed penmanship training we should practice skills bilaterally that are normally
dedicated to our dominant hand. The great news is that these subtle change of habits that
you can commit to will not be taking away from your busy schedules. Remember, it is the
penmanship training that truly expedites the shift to incredible fluidity with the non dominant
hand. And of course the mirror image writing is what launches the brain into the
stratosphere as far as motor skills are concerned. This is also what stimulates the ―resident
savant‖ in your right hemisphere and a side benefit is improved short term memory
processing. I wonder what that will do for your digesting of guitar theory. It will make it an
important part of your overall guitar package.

The idea that you can actually get way better at guitar by playing less is true; that is
provided that you take the advice that I have given you in my training guide. Are you willing
to do the program for 90 days? If you had a crystal ball and you could see how well you were
doing at your overall skill levels in three months, then you would put in the effort. Proof is in
the pudding. If this was a PX 90 Program (total body transformation) I am sure that the only
way that you would see the results is that you would do the recommended physical exercises.
The reason that this body enhancement regimen does so well is that you can see the body
actually changing. Well, the good news about my program is that you will see and feel the
difference about how your brain adapts and improves in many areas of your guitar playing.
And trust me good guitar playing requires an incredibly well tuned brain and nimble hands.
Strong hands also are a plus. You will certainly experience that by doing all of the tenets that
I prescribe in the materials provided.

There are many people who waste lots of time fooling around on the guitar and trying
to figure out how to improve with unsound methodologies. One of the first problems is that
they do not know the fretboard well in regards to instantly locating notes, scales and chords.
You have been inspired to learn the guitar neck from one end to the other. Are you willing
to give it a concerted effort to digest this WBP material with an open mind? Are you willing
to do the WBP program for 90 days? Because if this if this is the case, then I know you will
be a much improved guitar player in three months and beyond. You have a challenge ahead
of you and I wish you much success in your mission.

Michael J. Lavery

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael J. Lavery is considered a modern day ―Renaissance Man.‖ He is a musician, painter,

sculptor, professional caliber athlete, researcher and pioneer in applied neuroscience, as well
as an author and lecturer. It is his multi-faceted lifestyle that makes him unique amongst his
contemporaries. He was born in 1959 in Arlington, Massachusetts, to Robert and Beatrice
Lavery. He is from a close-knit family of three brothers and a sister. Lavery has four
wonderful sons of his own. He has always felt blessed to have been raised by a father who
was an athlete and scholar and a mother who was a housewife and a trained artist. He began
painting at age six and was a fixture on the sports fields. It was a broken femur injury
sustained as a sophomore in a high school football game that forever changed his destiny.
He was sidelined for almost two years and underwent three major surgeries. It was at this
time that he claims to have tapped into the right hemisphere of his brain. He began intensely
painting and playing guitar and training his voice. He expanded his horizons and made it his
mission to tap into a much diversified education.

He attended Exeter Academy and matriculated to Amherst College. He graduated

with a degree in Fine Arts and lettered in four varsity sports. It was while at Amherst that he
earned the nickname ―The Renaissance Man.‖ Upon graduating from Amherst in 1982, he
signed a professional baseball contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. However, after a stint in
the minor leagues, he came to a crossroads in his life and decided to pursue his vision of
being a professional artist. In 1984, he moved to the art colony of Laguna Beach with a
dream of painting seascapes and landscapes for a living. Not content to retire from

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competitive sports, he quickly learned tennis and became a tournament player at the ―Open‖
level. A combination of art, music and sports became his lifestyle. Essentially, it was this
creative and athletic balance that led him to the greatest quest of his life. This major
undertaking was to become ambidextrous, both mentally and physically. At this point, he
began to experiment with dual-handed sports training, fine motor application and memory
enhancement. This has led to the publishing of his books, Whole Brain Power™: The Fountain
of Youth for the Mind and Body and Whole Brain Power™ Workbook & Progress Journal.

Lavery believes that every human being has potential to harness both hemispheres of
the brain and to become a whole brain thinker and doer. Lavery has created much interest in
his ideas in light of the fact that he took up the game of golf in his mid-forties and is now a
scratch golfer, and an ambidextrous golfer, able to hit 300+ yard drives either left or right-
handed. He has been featured on the Letterman Show as well as ESPN. Professional golfers,
baseball players and tennis players are tutoring under his Whole Brain Power™ program.

Lavery‘s goal is to show that there are ways to enhance the brain‘s ability to become
more flexible and stronger – to actually grow as we age, not atrophy. His students prove that
his training methodologies change people‘s brain functioning, physical strength, and motor
skills. This transferability is the most important aspect of Lavery‘s inspirational story.
Recently, he was featured on the front cover of the Orange County Register (May 12, 2008).
The article, by OCR staff writer Tom Berg, was entitled ―Mind and Muscle.‖ Lavery is a
highly entertaining speaker and has an array of talents that he shares with his audience. He
will have you practicing Whole Brain Power as a regular part of your daily life activities. You
may contact Michael J. Lavery at wholebrainmichael@gmail.com.

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