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EASY
Improvise Without Thinking
Inwith
Solo 3 Simple Steps
Any Song in Any Key in
15 Minutes or Less
Jonathan Boyd
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I Get It…
Look, I know there’s a ton of information out there.
A TON! It’s really crazy. It’s so easy for your head to start
spinning…
I got sick and tired of just playing the same old stuff and
feeling “limited”…
I used to think that you had to learn all the stuff out
there… all the theory… memorize all the chords… all the
notes… read music…
But I found out that wasn’t true at all. In fact, I’ve had
several students LAUGH OUT LOUD when I showed them
how “simple” it really is.
You’ll be able to play all the right notes (in the right
key) without thinking about where to put your fingers.
Ok good. :-)
The truth is, if you follow the steps and do everything I’m
asking you to do, this lesson will work for you.
STEP 1
Notes.
Don’t let that scare you. If you think you need to “know”
every note you play, you don’t.
You see, for our purpose, the names of the notes are
simply “locators” or “landmarks”.
For this exercise, we’ll only discuss the notes on the low
E string (the “fattest” string). And to make it even easier
- only the “natural” notes.
A B C D E F G?
Certainly.
After you get the hang of it, play and say the natural
notes in order going “up” the fretboard (toward your
body) and then back down (away from your body). Do
this until you are reasonably comfortable with naming
each natural note.
Don’t skip it. Don’t move on. Do it now! The ONLY way to
get better at guitar is to learn one thing, and then
actually DO IT!
Let’s say you were trying to find the note “Bb” (B flat).
Easy right?
STEP 2
For this step, we’re going to learn one very simple and
easy to use scale pattern…
BUT…
{erasing now…}
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{almost finished…}
Gone.
Scale Pattern 1
For now, we’ll simply call this scale pattern “Scale Pattern
1”.
You’ll know you have it memorized when you can play the
entire pattern without looking at the chart or the TAB.
Play from the lowest sounding note all the way up to the
highest sounding note, and then in reverse, from the
highest note to the lowest note.
After you can play the scale pattern reasonably well all
the way up (from the lowest note to the highest note)
and then back down (from the highest note to the lowest
note), you’re ready to move on to the most fun part!
Go to YouTube.
Make sure you start on the 3rd fret on the low E string
(fat string), just as indicated in the TAB and shown on
the chart.
Just jam until you get your fill, and enjoy the fact that it
really is that easy to hit all the right notes.
STEP 3
The Key to Keys:
How To Sound Great
Over Any Song
When the search results come up, you’ll see that there
are tracks in different Major keys - Like C Major, B Major,
G Major, etc.
The cool thing is, you can play in all of those Major keys
now!
When you match the “key note” to the note you start on,
every note you play sounds good when you play over the
backing track!
Now…
Any song in a Minor key will still have a “key note”. For
example, a song (or backing track in this case) might be
in the key of C Minor, or F Minor, or G Minor… Etc.
(Hint: DON’T count the first note. Start from the first
note, then count)
What you would do is first find your “A” note (on the E
string), which happens to be on the 5th fret.
Find your “B” note (7th fret). Then slide your finger 3
frets up (to the 10th fret). Start Scale Pattern 1 there.
How about playing with a “G Minor” backing track? Find
your G note (3rd fret), move 3 frets up (to the 6th fret),
then start Scale Pattern 1 from there.
Here’s how.
For any song you want to play along with, just Google:
“What key is [song name] in”. Simple or what?
This is a skill and it takes practice - but lucky for you, it’s
fun!
This is exactly what the pros are doing when they solo
and sound so good…
Explore.
Try stuff.
The truth is, the more tracks you play with, the more
times you play the scale, the more chances you take, the
more keys you play in, the more “mistakes” you make,
the better you will get. And I bet you will even impress
yourself.
If you want to play along with a song you like but don’t
know the key, just search on Google: “[song name] key”.
If you practice this material and truly have fun with it,
enjoy it, and explore, you’ll start sounding pro in no time,
and you absolutely will impress your friends and
family.