Advanced Guitar

WORKBOOK
Scales, Chords, Exercises, Techniques,
and Song Excerpts for the
Advanced Guitar Player
Lesson #1 - The Plan
Chapter on focused practicing, developing
repertoire, transcribing, playing with others.
Lesson #2 - The Workout
Scales in 3rds,4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths,
Tetrads of major scale - 1-3-5-7
Lesson #3 - Advanced Chords
Dominant 9, 13
Min11 Min 6
Maj9
Augmented 7
Diminished 7
Lesson #4 - 3 Octave Arpeggios Spread
Fingerings
Major, Minor Augmented, Diminished
Lesson #5 - 4 Note Arpeggios
Maj 7, Min7, Dom7, Min7b5, 7#5 Dim7, Augmented
Lesson #6 - The ii - V - I Progression in
Major and Minor keys
Some melodic phrases to play over ii-V -I
Progressions in major and minor keys
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Lesson #7 - Introduction to the jazz blues
Blues For Alice
Harmonic Analysis of chord progressions
Lesson#8 - Altered Scales
Modes of Harmonic Minor
Modes of Melodic (Real) Minor
Modes of Lydian Pentatonic
Lesson #9 - Drop 2 and Drop 3
Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings
Maj 7, Min7, Dom 7, Min7♭5
Lesson #10 - The Upper Parts
#5, b5, b9,#9, 11,#11, 13
Chord diagrams explaining how to build altered
dominants with roots on the 5th and 6th string
Lesson #11 - Open and closed voicings for
Harmonic and Melodic minor
Closed Voicings Harmonic and Melodic top 3
strings
Open Voicings from 5 the string
The Look Ahead
Lesson #1 - The Plan

60 Minute Practice Plan

● 10 Minutes - Warm up: Always start with a warm up to prepare your body and mind to play. Warm up with
standard finger exercises in multiple positions

● 5 Minutes - Reading: Single-line melody and scale reading, Chord melody or etude transcription, or chart/lead
sheet reading. Count out loud.

● 15 Minutes - Technique/Facility: Work on left hand technique using scale shapes, arpeggios, and chord
inversions in multiple positions. Focus on all right hand techniques like flat picking, hybrid picking, and fingerstyle.
This is the time to build your technical facility all over the neck.

● 15 Minutes - Rhythm Playing: Work on rock, swing, funk, latin, R&B grooves with a metronome. Develop an
understanding and skill set for as many styles as you can. .

● 15 Minutes - Open/Play: This is the time to work on songs you need to learn for bands, songs to just play for fun,
or a chance to go back to something from earlier in your practice session that you want to spend more time on.

A well organized hour-long practice session done consistently is a great way to elevate your playing quickly. If you have more
than an hour to practice, try repeating the plan with a short break after one hour. You can modify the time frames to fit your
needs, such as skipping the warm-up since you will have already played for an hour. Any time you start to feel stuck or
frustrated, try putting the guitar down for just a couple minutes. Grab a drink of water, walk around, and get some space from
the material you were working on. When you come back to it you might have a clearer mind and make some progress. If not,
look for something else to move onto for that day, and come back to the challenging material tomorrow. Always end your
practice session with something you feel good about playing. When you walk away feeling good about what you played, you’ll
want to come back to the guitart that much sooner!

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Lesson #2 - The Workout

Playing scales ascending and descending is only the beginning of important scale practicing. In the intermediate book we went
through several different fingerings of major and minor scales in multiple positions. Many melodies and solos use all sorts of
intervallic shapes. They don’t sound like scales even though they’re using the notes of the scale. An intervallic shape, or
interval, is the measurement between two notes. Practicing scales in the pattern of intervals is vital to becoming an advanced
player.

The following exercises are written in the key of G. When you have the patterns down, transpose them to the 11 other major
keys. While each exercise is written in an ascending direction, practice them descending as well. The workout can be part of the
warm up and technical/facility segment of your practice routine. Once you have this down it should take you 5 minutes at a
medium tempo to complete all exercises in 1 key. Try 1 - 3 keys a day depending on your level of mastery.

Major scale in 3rds

Major scale in 4ths

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Major scale in 5ths

Major scale in 6ths

Major scale in 7ths

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Major scale in Tetrads

This is the same exercise with a more uniform fingering for faster playing.

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Lesson #3 - Advanced Chord Voicings
Integration of the 9, 11 and 13
Unless you’re playing a simple blues, the rule of thumb is never to just play a 7th in any chord. It can sound bland and there are
more creative options available. While the principle notes of the chord are made up of the 1-3-5-7 scale degrees, the 2-4 and 6
scale degrees are represented as the 9-11-13, which are the upper parts of the chord. 1

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Refer to Appendix A in the Jampro Scale Encyclopedia for more information on upper parts of chords.

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The 11 is also the 4th of the scale in the same octave. Notice the unaltered 4th and 11th are only used in minor chords. A minor
second, or ♭9, is created in major and dominant chords when incorporating a 4th causing dissonance that may be unpleasant
for the listener., Therefore, the 4th/11th is altered or avoided all together.

The 6th of a chord is the same note as the 13 in the octave above. These voicings have the note in the same octave.

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The major 9 voicings require sizable finger stretches. This is because the 7th, root, and 9th are only a step and a half apart from
each other. Octave displacement2 is required in some of the voicings to make all three notes work together in a sonoric voicing.
The voicing on the 4th string is rootless because of the lack of octaves from the 4th to 1st string.

Given the symmetrical nature of augmented chords, it’s not possible to have a rootless voicing without sounding like a
completely different chord. Augmented major 7 can also be written as major 7 #5. However you identify this chord, the Lydian
Augmented mode is best suited for this chord.3

2
Octave displacement is a technique that moves notes that are normally very close to each other up or
down octaves. It creates a sound of much wider intervals. Commonly used with 20th century composers
and jazz pianists from the 1960s to the present day.
3
Review Lessons # 6 and 7 in The Scale Encyclopedia for more information on Melodic Minor modes.

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Like the augmented chords, diminished chords are also symmetrical.4 It is impossible to have a rootless voicing without losing
the integrity and sonority of the chord. Therefore, an alternate voicing is given instead of a rootless one.

All of these voicings are movable and therefore, can be used in any key. The rootless voicings require a little more knowledge of
the notes within the chords in order to assure you’re playing it in the correct position. Reading exercises in multiple positions
will help you identify notes on the fretboard much faster.5 Identifying the different intervals of the chords will help with
transposition as well.6 It would be helpful to work in Earmaster. This program is an excellent source for ear training, especially
with advanced chords. It would be advantageous for you to be spending as much time on ear training as with reading studies.

4
For more information on symmetrical chords review lesson #6 of Introduction To Harmony.
5
The student at this point should be reading from Mel Bay’s Position Studies and William Leavitt's
Modern Method For Guitar Book 2.
6
Review lesson # 7 of Introduction To Harmony for more information on intervallic breakdown.

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Lesson #4 - 3 Octave Arpeggios
Spread Fingerings
Alternate fingerings are a great way to get around the neck faster. Guitarists like Allen Holdsworth and Steve Vai utilize these
types of patterns when soloing. You can play the same pitch in many different places on a guitar. Your choice of fingering should
be determined by the phrasing and speed of the notes you are trying to play. Below are several alternate fingerings to try.

Major

Minor

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Dominant

Diminished

11
Augmented

Half Diminished

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Lesson #5 - 4 Note Arpeggios
Even though the key of A was the focal point for the previous lessons, these patterns can be used in any position and on any
root note. It is encouraged that they be played in all 12 keys. Once you have memorized some of the patterns, play them over
standard progressions like ii-V I or I-IV -V or I-vi-ii- V.

Major 7

Minor 7

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Dominant 7

Min7b5

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Min/Maj 7 - This arpeggio is often used on a minor i chord. The arpeggio has a certain finality to it that sounds resolute.

Altered Dom 7 - You can move most notes in a dominant arpeggio up or down a half step and you will get an altered
sound. The exceptions are the root and 7th of the chords. The root can only go up a ½ step and the 7th can only go down a ½
step. If either goes in the other direction, you will land on the major 7th negating the dominant tonality of the chord, changing
it to major. The ♭9 and ♭5 will give you a diminished sound. Altering the dominant to a ♭9 is a diminished shape. The ♯9
and ♯5 have more of an augmented sound. The ♯9 can also have a bluesy sound given it’s connection to the pentatonic scale.

7 ♯5 7♭5

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Lesson #6 The ii - V - I Progression in
Major and Minor keys
Many books have specifically been written on this topic. The ii-V - I progression is one of the most frequently used progression
in jazz and popular music. The theoretical understanding and ability to improvise over this progression is paramount for any
guitar player and musician alike. The patterns for the diatonic modes used over this progression are found in the Jampro
Intermediate Guitar Workbook.7 The theoretical analysis of the chord/scale relationships can be found in the Jampro Scale
Encyclopedia8 and the arpeggio patterns in the previous chapter can be used over this progression as well.

For the purpose of soloing, several harmonic devices can be used. Diads, triads and tetrads can all be used as harmonic tools for
improvisation given the polyphonic nature of the guitar. There is so much focus placed on single notes when playing a solo that
chords get overlooked. Many of the masters like Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Pat Martino and Mike Stern all
incorporate chordal elements in their solos. The following examples use chords in solo phrases. The use of chords in this
manner would be too busy for comping.

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Review lesson #7 of the Jampro Intermediate Guitar Workbook
8
Review lesson #3 of the Jampro Scale Encyclopedia

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For further study of melodic ideas to play over ii-V -I progressions, study the Charlie Parker OmniBook, Melodic Jazz Patterns by
Jerry Coker, Three Note Voicings and Beyond by Randy Vincent, and Single Note Soloing Vols. 1 and 2 by Ted Greene. It is vitally
important to transcribe solos straight from recordings. This is necessary for ear training as well as development on your
instrument. If you’ve done little to no transcribing, try starting with Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, or Horace Silver. These artists are
very melodic and spacious with many of their improvisations. While they’re not basic, they are not as busy as John Coltrane,
Mccoy Tyner, and Oscar Pertterson.

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Lesson #7 - Introduction To The Jazz Blues
In the Intermediate book we looked at how to comp and solo over standard jazz blues. 9 “Blues For Alice” is an advanced blues
with additive chord substitutions10. Follow the analysis below to see how the subs relate to standard blues. The harmony moves
at a faster pace than standard blues. Play through the changes slowly and work it up to speed. Use scales, arpeggios and chords
when improvising.

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Review lesson #11 in The Intermediate Guitar Workbook
10
Additive chord substitution is a way to add chords to an existing chord progression to make it
harmonically richer and more exciting.

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Lesson #8 - The Altered Scales
The Altered Minor scales are what you would primarily use in minor ii-V progressions. However, the Harmonic Minor is used quite
often by rock players. Remember, when you’re in a minor key and hear a major or dominant V chord, you can use the Harmonic
Minor of the key to play over this chord.11

Harmonic Minor

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For more information on harmonic function of Harmonic minor read through Lessons# 4 and 5 in the
Scale Encyclopedia

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Melodic Minor

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Lydian Pentatonic
This scale can be used to bring out a ♯11 or ♭5 (blue note) over a major chord. You can also use this over a dominant chord as
well, given the lack of a 7th degree. Memorize the shapes of all the modes in order to use them in any position.

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Lesson #9 - Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings
Drop 2 and drop 3 triads were introduced in the Intermediate Guitar Workbook. Here are the Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings for all
the 7th tonalities. These voicings are very useful for constructing chord melodies and harmonizing phrases in a solo.

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There are many of these voicings you should already be familiar with. Push yourself to use some of the inversions in your
comping. Improvisation does not just happen when you’re soloing. It takes place throughout the entire tune in every
instrument. The voicings and chords are not exclusive to jazz. You can use them for Country Western Swing, Latin, and Rock.

Make sure to practice these voicings in every key with every applicable chord progression. You will find these voicings useful to
switch things up when you’re playing many choruses of the same tune. Remember to listen to the other players in the group.
They can be a key inspiration for when and where to use closed or open voicing. Standards in all genres should be used as the
ultimate practice tool for them. The final destination of the application is found in song.

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Lesson #10 - The Upper Parts
While there are many shapes you can play for any chord, these two structures are the principle voicings for which most
standard guitar chords are built off of.

Build any chord with root on 5th string

The 5th string root chord is voiced from the A string to the high E string as 1,3,7,9,5. All the altered upper parts can be applied
by moving one finger up or back. In the case of a dominant ♭9 chord some fingerings might need to be moved around or
barred. Memorize this chart in order to have access to almost every chord with the root on the 5th string.

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Build any chord with root on 6th string

The 6th string root chord is voiced from the E string to the high E string as 1,7,3,5,9. All the altered upper parts can be applied
by moving one finger up or back. The A string is skipped with this voicing. Use the lower pad of the first or second finger to
mute the A string. Memorize this chart in order to have access to almost every chord with the root on the 6th string.

When first introduced to any form of popular music, these voicings or patterns are the first ones taught to students. Having
knowledge of where all parts of the chord are located will give a great understanding of chord construction. In addition, you will
not have to tediously memorize many different shapes of similar chords.

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Lesson #11 - Open and closed chord voicings for Major,
Harmonic and Melodic minor
This lesson is a continuation of the 3-string sets found in the intermediate book. This lesson formulates them in a scale
structure. Use these to harmonize lines in solos and chord melodies. They can be great for stripped down comping as well.

Major Closed Position

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Harmonic Minor Closed Position

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Melodic Minor Closed Position

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Major Open Position

The open positions use the same chords as above just with octave displacement and specific voicings suitable for guitar. Apply
these to melodies, comping and soloing.

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Harmonic Minor Open Position

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Melodic Minor Open Position

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The Look Ahead

This book has provided you with the tools to improvise solos, develop chord melodies, and create your own material. While there
are many chord voicings and scale shapes in this book, there are many more in existence. It is up to the student at this point to
explore all other possibilities. It is important to master the concepts that are presented in this book before moving on to
additional material.

Studying scales, arpeggios, and chord voicings are important for growth as a guitarist and development as a musician. However,
it is vital that the student is learning repertoire while studying these concepts. You can play all the scales in the world, but if
you don’t know any tunes you have nothing to play with other musicians. Learning standard songs in multiple genres is a key to
really understanding what goes into the styles you study.

While Rock, Jazz, Country, Pop and some Latin have a lot in common, there are distinctive characteristics of each of them. Jazz
requires much more improvisation than all of them. Each tune can be interpreted and played many different ways. The melody, or
head, is signature and needs to be recognizable (most of the time) but jazz standards can be played with different feels and at
different tempos than originally recorded.

Rock, Country, and Pop are much more signature genres. This means that you need to play the riffs that are on the record, and in
some cases, play the recorded solo note for note. You can play “Sweet Child Of Mine “ as a bossa in ⅞, but you will lose people
on the dance floor faster than you can count to 7. Latin styles have specific rhythmic characteristics. Salsa relies heavily on the
Tumbau whereas samba and bossa rely heavily on the clave.

Reading notation is not mentioned much in this book. This is an extremely important skill to develop. Whether you aspire to be
a professionally gigging musician or just a hobbyist, reading is fundamental. For the hobbyist, if you can read, you can pick up
any music book anywhere and understand the music that is in it. You’re not reliant on tablature to get what’s on the paper out
of your guitar. As a professional musician, you stand to lose a lot of gigs if you can‘t read. Just ask the band members of SNL,
American Idol, and The Voice if they’d have their gig if they couldn’t read….The answer is NO!

The musical journey is your own. Push yourself to be the best you can be. Develop your own voice on the instrument and don’t
let other players deter you from your path. Work well with others and be thankful when you can play with musicians who are
better than you. Humility is the key to enlightenment.

Here are some recommendations for further study:

Modern Method For Guitar by Wiliam Levitt vols. 1 and 2 and 3
Chord Chemistry and Single Note lines vols. 1 and 2 by Ted Green
The Carcassi Method by Carcassi - For Classical guitar
The Charlie Parker OmniBook

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