FINGERSTYLE GUITAR LESSONS

Hey guys, welcome back to Just Play Along, the guitar course that shows you how to put scales into practice. In this module, we are going to play along a beautiful backing track in E minor. The solo is smooth and simple to play, and it focuses on the concept called “Target notes.”

Simply put, target notes are notes that we choose to play over a particular chord. If we play an E minor chord, we can target one of the three notes of the E minor chord. We could, for example, decide to start the melody with the note E (the root note) or the note G (the minor 3rd), or the note B (the perfect 5th).

Using the target notes approach allows you to write melodies and solos that are pertinent to the chords. However, you will have to know the chord progression and the notes of the chords you are playing. In this lesson, I will show you how to use target notes over four chords.

The chord progression we are using today goes as follows: Em | C | G | D |.

We will break down the solo into four different sections. In section one and two, we will work on the target notes. In section three and four, we will develop a much more musical melody that doesn’t necessarily rely on target notes.

You can use this course along with Scales, Arpeggios, & Musical Ideas. You can learn the E minor scale by checking out the module one of Scales, Arpeggios, & Musical Ideas.

Enojy this module.

The major scale is one of the most popular scales in music. Some of us spend hours practicing and playing around with the notes of the major scale.

The major scale is more than just seven notes. The entire music theory gravitates around this scale. It’s up to us to decide how we want to use it.

For some of us, playing the scale up and down isn’t enough. We want to know more about it. Use it. Create something with it.

If this is you, I suggest that you stick around. In this video, we’ll learn how to visualize the major scale using the Root note of the scale and also how to play along with a backing track to make music.

One of the exciting aspects of the major scale is that we can change its sound by interpreting the notes differently. Now, to do that, we have to be able to visualize the scale in vertical positions. This approach allows you to organize the scale within a defined position of the neck.

I broke down this video into five levels so that we can take a look at all the most important aspects of learning, memorizing, and using the major scale.

• Level 1. Learn the scale structure.
• Level 2. Visualize the root note.
• Level 3. Move that root note.
• Level 4. Add the notes of the chord.
• Level 5. Connect the positions.

Enjoy this lesson.

Pushing things to the extreme is always a quite interesting practice, whether you are trying to make things extremely difficult or extremely simple. There is always a lesson to learn from pushing things to a limit.

In either way, you will discover something exciting about the things that you can play on the guitar. Things that we can’t recognize if we follow the usual learning system.

In this video, we are going to simplify some chords so that they can be played with just one finger (nothing more extreme than that). The goal is to come up with a beautiful chord progression with the least amount of effort using just one finger.

The purpose of this lesson is also to show you the “Why” and “How” we can come up with such simple chords. We will analyze the chords,

If you are a beginner, you will enjoy these chords quite a lot as they sound beautiful. They can only be played with the fingerpicking technique, but I kept that as simple as possible too.

Enjoy this lesson.

 

In this first module, you will learn how to play a simple melody in C major. The goal is to familiarize yourself with the C major scale and play along with the backing track. 

You can learn how to play the C major scale by checking out my Patreon program Scales, Arpeggios, and Musical Ideas. The C major scale is available in Module 1. 

The backing track is essentially a musical accompaniment that guitar players use to play along with. 

In Module 1, we will be using a backing track in C major. 

Below, you can find the key, scale, and chords analysis. 

All the media files (Tab, backing track, and lesson), are available on my Patreon page. 

The C Major Key/Scale

This melody is in C major key. 

In this key, we can use all the notes from the C major scale: C D E F G A B. 

This rule applies to any other key. If, for example, you are playing in G major key, use all the notes from the G major scale to write an awesome melody.

 

• Quick Tip: With a backing track in C major, use all the notes from the C major scale.  

 

I suggest that you learn how to play the C major scale. If you are supporting me on my Patreon page, go to the program Scales, Arpeggios, and Musical Ideas and learn the C major scale in Module 1. 

The Chords

The backing track is played with the following chords: 

C | G | Am | F | C|  G | F |

It’s important that you learn the chords and the notes of each chord. With that information, you will be able to write a melody over the chords rather than randomly noodling around.  

 

• Knowing the chords allows you to write a melody that resonates with the harmony of the backing track. In this example, the first note of the melody is always played with one of the notes of the chord (Pretty safe, and mistake-free).

 

Chord Analysis

In this section, you can learn the notes of the chords played on the backing track. You can use these notes at the beginning and the end of each phrase to avoid mistakes. 

Chord	Notes of the chord
C major chord	C E G
G major chord	G B D
A minor chord	A C E
F major chord	F A C

The Backing Track

There are four count-in before the backing track begins. The chords are played with a simple fingerpicking pattern and the drum kicks in on bar 5. 

The speed is 60Bpm. It’s a slow pace that allows you to practice the melody without challenging your technique. 

Listen to the track many times and learn the rhythm of each phrase. 

Questions? 

Get in touch on my Patreon page or email me at marcocirillo@blitzguitar.com

Good luck with this module! 

Hey guys, welcome back to another lesson. Today, I am going to talk to you about one of the most popular rhythmic techniques on the guitar. It’s called the thumb slap technique. 

I am sure you probably know how to use this technique, and many guitar players use it instinctively. However, there are a lot of guitar players who struggle to get it right, so in this video, I am going to break down the thumb slap technique and show you exactly how to use it. 

We call it thumb slap because it’s a technique performed with the thumb. We slap the strings with the side of the thumb so that they snap against the fretboard. 

There are three things you should follow to get the perfect slap sound. 

• 1. Strike the string with the side of the thumb, and not with the front. 
• 2. Always strike the string linked with the bass note. 
• 3. Keep the movement natural. It’s ok if you miss a few slaps. 

The primary purpose of the thumb slap is to reproduce the sound of a snare drum, which is, by the way, the most important part of the drum. 

Usually, the snare drum plays the second and fourth beat of a song, which are the beats responsible for the groove. For this reason, we have to perform this technique on the second and fourth beat. 

I did my best to keep things simple. However, this is a beginner technique. Take it step-by-step.

Enjoy the lesson.

Experimenting with alternate tuning is always a great way to find new chords and melodic alternatives.

Today, I am going to show you a beautiful musical idea played with an awesome alternate tuning. The tuning I am about to show you is the DADF#AE.

We all know the most common alternate tuning such as the Drop D tuning (DADGBE) and the Celtic tuning DADGAD, but the DADF#AE was a pretty much new tuning for me, and it took a while to master.

One of the things I do when I start experimenting with a new tuning is to figure which chord the tuning generates with the open strings. The DADF#AE is an what I call and open Dadd9 tuning.

The open strings have all the notes we need to build a D major chord plus the major 9th that adds a wonderful add9 flavor. The root note D (6th and 4th string), the major 3rd, F#(3rd string), and the perfect 5th, the A (5th and 2nd string). We also have the major 9th, E (1st string)

In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you a simple musical idea played in DADF#AE tuning. You can learn the chord shapes, and they use it to write your chord progressions and melodies.

Good luck!

 

There are a lot of chords that we don’t use. Not because we don’t know them but because they don’t feel natural.

If every time we quit something just because it doesn’t feel natural, then we will miss out on a lot of fantastic chord progressions. For this reason, I wrote a beautiful instrumental using these lovely chords so that you can practice them with a musical idea.

The chords I am referring to are the Drop 2.

But what’s a Drop 2 chord? A Drop 2 is a seventh chord played with a different interval structure than the typical root shape.

The seventh chords are built with the Root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th. When we bring the second note from the top (the 5th) one octave down, we are playing a Drop 2 chord. So, the Cmaj7 chord, which in its root shape is played with the notes C E G B, becomes a Drop 2 chord when it’s played with the notes G C E B. We can call this chord a Cmaj7/G or Cmaj7 with the 5th on the bass.

In this lesson, we are going to take a look at the Drop 2 chords played on the 6, 5, 4, and 3rd string. All these chords have the 5th on the bass.

The chord shapes are probably new to many of you. I recommend that you embrace them and try to implement them in your chord progressions.

There is always a way to make chords interesting. In this lesson, I want to show you a simple trick that will take your chords to the next level.

The trick is straightforward: We can change the interval structure of the chord to make it sound more exciting and beautiful.

On the guitar, it’s really simple to do that. We can simply add an open string between the notes of the chords to change its interval structure.

But, what does it mean to “Change the interval structure of a chord?”

As you probably know, a chord is made up of notes from the scale. The most basic chord in music is played with only three notes: The I (root), the III (3rd), and the V (5th). This basic chord can also be called a triad. We can also add more notes to the chord, such as the VII, IX, XI, and XIII.

The notes that make up the chords are always higher in pitch. So, the III is still higher in pitch than the I. The V is always higher in pitch than the I and III, the VII is always higher in pitch than the I, III, and V. Same thing for the IX, XII, and XIII.

If you watch the notes written on the music stave, you can see how the notes go alway up.

To change the interval structure of the chord, it means to play the notes of the chord in a different order so that some of the notes are lower in pitch and don’t necessarily follow the usual chord structure.

In this lesson, I am going to show you how this can be done with a bunch of chords in A minor.

Enjoy this lesson.

 

 

Hey guys, today I feel Blues so I decided to show you an easy fingerstyle blues super fun to play.

One of the things that I like a lot about the Blues is that we can really decide how difficult we want it to be. We can, for example, keep things very simple (like in this Blues) and play a simple bluesy melody and a straightforward rhythm.

There are indeed very complex and challenging fingerpicking Blues out there, but we will focus on a simple Blues so that you can familiarize yourself with the chords, melody, and structure.

I have also recorded other blues lessons. I will link some of them down below.

• Minor Blues: https://youtu.be/DiLR5GfUygo
• Slow Blues https://youtu.be/VKg_KpYNyL0

Enjoy this lesson.

When we start playing the guitar, there is always a moment when you want to just play something without thinking of scales, arpeggios, exercises, and patterns.

Every beginner should be able to sit on the couch and strum or pluck a bunch of chords and still be able to come up with something fresh.

In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you how to play a bunch of awesome chords for beginners that sound great. These are the “go-to” chords you should play when you want to “Just play something.”

One of the things I love about these chords is that we can move them up and down the neck, and they, somehow, always sound good and musical.

Learn one chord and start experimenting right away before moving to the next one.

Enjoy this lesson.