Master Fretboard Creativity

00:00 Hey this is Steve Stein from guitar zoom and thank you so much for joining me. What I want to help you with today is a problem that I get a lot of people that come up to me asking me about all the time which is how do I break out of a rut or how do I how do I make my solo sound more like solos and less like scales or how do. I keep myself from getting bored all the time because I'm playing the same things over and over and over and there's a lot of different ways to approach this. But one thing that I think is really important is learning how to see more of your fretboard as one continuous flow of movement versus you know just just a position or a box. We call it just one place on the guitar. Maybe. We've got one here and one down here or something like that and it really prohibits us from being able to move across the guitar. So that's what I want to help you with a little bit today. So it doesn't matter whether you are practicing pentatonic or you're practicing diatonic you know whatever scale. It is any scale is able to be viewed across the entire fretboard.Okay just takes a little time now. This isn't the the only thing obviously learning to better your technique and better your understanding through theory and you know learning licks and patterns and all these things are really great things to learn how to do. But I think learning to have more freedom across your fretboard is a really great thing to build your confidence and build your creativity because it gives you something else okay when I first started learning how to play you know I'll refer to this as my first position. I'm gonna go up to the 12th fret which is E minor pentatonic or G major pentatonic depending on how you're looking at this and I learned how to play this which I'm sure most of you know and it took me a long time to learn to get out of that one position.I would just play everything there every time or if I was in the key of a I would move it down to the fifth fret or whatever and so I developed patterns and I developed you know licks. I would play all those sort of Paul Gilbert sorts of things or some sort of repetitive link that I've learned you know whatever it might be. But I was stuck there all the time and and I didn't know how to get out of there and even when I was showing how I could learn these other positions it just seemed like I was I don't know if I was too lazy or what the deal was. But I I just wouldn't learn them. So what I want to tell you today. Is. It's really important to break out of that for even if it's not for somebody else even if you only play you know by yourself or whatever just the fun that you can have of being able to play more this way across the fretboard as opposed to kind of wearing blinders and just playing up and down in one position okay. So what we're gonna do is. 02:46 We're gonna start with pentatonic and then I'm gonna show you a little bit in diatonic as well just to kind of make a comparison here. But let's say that you're trying to learn how to solo right. You're learning some some stuff about scales and you know some licks and different things like that and again you know ii minor is being played. So you're trying to target the note ii or the third which is g or whatever it might be. But we're trying to find something a little more interesting to do here. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna take this right here and let's just break down what I'm playing right. Now.I'm playing the notes e om G a and B and D so Penta meaning five I'm playing five different notes and then I'm playing those five notes again in the next octave and then I'm gonna play again. But I only have two more notes left and I run out of strings. So I'm playing the same notes over and over and over in different octaves you know we learned this whole thing here as one position which is great but understand that what you're really doing is you're playing. Multiple octaves of the same notes so what we want to do is. We want to learn the easiest way to begin with again learning your theory and understanding things is very important but I always think it's more important to learn how to have fun and get creative first and then learn the whys in the house and and different things like that. So let's take that that position that we're playing right now and I'm going to refer to this as the first position. Now it's okay if you think of it as something else. But it's the first position that we're learning how to play here off of the note. 04:21 E now again we could be an E minor pentatonic or we could also be in G major pentatonic because they both have the same notes. But what we want to do is find somewhere else on the guitar to move so. We're not just stuck in this one position here. So if we think about the notes and I don't want you to worry too much about the names. I just want you to see how this actually works. I'm playing again gee and then I round the strings again again thank you for joining me. I appreciate that hopefully I'll be able to help you with this a little bit. So by the time we're done you can grab your guitar and start trying something new something a little bit fresh okay. So here's what we're gonna do we're gonna take those same notes. But we're gonna move that direction. We're gonna play the same notes. So I'm gonna move down to the note D okay I already played e up in here.Right I had just down to a lower octave D here at the the tenth fret of the sixth string okay and I'm gonna play this shape. Let me show you the shape first and then let's talk about what the notes are real quick. So I'm gonna play ten twelve and ten twelve and nine twelve nine twelve ten twelve ten twelve. So I'm playing ten twelve twice nine twelve twice and then ten twelve twice again. So it's a fairly symmetrical shape that that's fairly easy to play and again I probably if I was playing an E minor. Pentatonic I'd want to know where my e's are so I can try and target those among other notes that I can learn and things like that. But what I want you to hear now is that when I play this if I play those notes down here in this new position which I'm gonna call the fifth position because in pentatonic if I took all five of my pentatonic notes and stuck them all on the sixth string I could actually create a new shape on each one of those notes. So again don't worry about that the title the position titles but just so you can kind of see what I'm doing here. 06:38 So. I'm playing so I'm gonna go down here. I start on D but if I start here let me start playing the same notes so it looks different but it sounds the same okay. The only difference is as I move down or as I move up the guitar I can't keep starting on e every time. Obviously I have to start on something else which is why again what I really could do is take the onion the G B and then the beat in the D and I could put them all on the sixth string and then learn to build downward from there.Now the most important thing is is once you've learned how to do that. Let's say you know that first position of a minor pentatonic right here and now you're learning this new position which I'm calling the fifth position but it doesn't matter. I learned this new position that's starting at the tenth fret. But it's the same notes over and over and over right. So I'm playing E's and G's and A's and B's and DS and that's what I really want you to start thinking about isn't the fact that you're learning. This second this new position so to speak which is important but it's really learning how to visualize how this new position and that other position that you new are connecting together to give you this freedom to be able to move around the fretboard. This is where sliding and all these different things become really important because we can start getting more creative with our through. These two positions or we can even connect the two positions together to create new licks or new patterns or new ideas okay. So what I like about learning these other positions is. 08:32 It gives me the freedom to approach my fretboard in a different way. Okay. I've got all these other places that I can go and there's other ways that I can get there right I might move. I might slide and just again the creative process. I'm not playing anything. New. I'm playing the same notes but because I'm able to visualize the fretboard. This way. It's giving me some more ideas or approaches to things that maybe I haven't done before so as we keep learning these positions and I'm just going to go through. These first two for you right now but as you keep learning gives you the availability of being able to move around wherever it is you'd like to go and then when you get into that let's call it the home position right. This this main place then you've got all these cool licks that you can do but instead of just playing all those licks all at once and then you're out of ideas. Maybe you use the fretboard more this way and then when you need something really cool that you've already established. You go back to that position or maybe you start learning. Some licks in some of those other positions so as you're moving around you can get into. That position then come up with some things that you've you've practiced there as well.I try and teach people a technique called meandering and basically what meandering is is setting a metronome or using a backing track or whatever it is at a particular tempo and learning how to move without stopping ok. Now this isn't necessarily a musical technique. It's just a practice technique to see how well you actually know your fretboard so let's say. For instance I set a metronome and my practice was at this speed. So what meandering says is. I'm gonna move around at that tempo or at that speed. And I can't stop what I'm gonna do is. I'm gonna try and keep moving as long as I can before my hands freeze or my brain freezes up and I can't come up with anything if if it happens a lot. It means I'm probably moving too fast right. If I have to stop a lot. Then I need to slow my metronome down or my jam track or whatever it is. I'm using so you want to find a comfortable speed. 10:48 This isn't necessarily just practicing each position which is really important. This is trying to learn how to move in and out of the positions that you have been practicing to see the possibility of getting creative with them. So let's say again. I'll say I'm right here and you can see again. It doesn't really sound musical at this point but what it is showing me is am. I able to move through the positions that I've learned comfortably at that tempo so that way if I come across an actual song that I'm playing and the song starts and it's doing something. Like this okay I can get in there and I can start learning how to move around with more rhythm more phrasing all these different things that can happen but that wouldn't have even been possible if I hadn't left this this primary or home or first position. Whatever we want to call it. So I really want you to start thinking about how important this could be to your playing. Now again. I mentioned earlier that pentatonic being that there's five notes I could put all five of those notes on the sixth string and then build positions from each one. But I don't just want to practice playing up and down each one of these positions which is important. Okay I also want to learn to practice this way. 12:26 So I've got this musical freedom or creativity to be able to move across the guitar and make things up this way okay. So there's lots of different ways that you can practice this but here's my point. It's not all or nothing like I always meet players that think well. I you know I can't jam with other people or I can't to get together with other people until they learn everything perfectly. I don't know that you ever learn everything perfectly. I think this this journey this guitar thing just goes on forever for all of us okay. It's just some of us have more of a comfort zone that feels good to us.And we do what we do as best. We can in there but we're always learning. We're always learning something else so even if you only started with two positions and you just learned how to develop those and then maybe the week after you learn how to play you know another position that connects to that so now you've got more stuff or the month after or whatever it might be because once you learn these positions obviously it's nice to know where some notes are. So you can try and target notes that you're playing when you know if a particular chord is being played you're trying to target the root or the third of the fifth or whatever it might be to make your solo sound a little more musical and give them melody right but that's another level on top of this. But that's certainly something that you could do or you can learn like I said before licks or patterns or things like that so hopefully that sort of makes sense to you learning how to play each one. Moving up and down is very important from a technical standpoint but from a creative standpoint. It's also important to learn how to see how they connect together congruently. This direction so you can have some fun so as you're learning this and as you're jamming with a jam track don't worry so much about how fast you can play. 14:09 Let that come later right now just try and learn how to how to get more creative with your movement kind of move around the fretboard and just enjoy some of those movements and again once you get comfortable with that move to another position learn another one and keep going so again. So I don't waste your time. Let's go ahead and look at diatonic real quick. What we're gonna do is just use G major E minor depending on how you want to look at it and I'm gonna move down here to the third fret. So what I'm gonna be doing is playing this position right here. It's called a spread fingering and it looks like this. What I'm doing here is playing the notes of the G Major scale and see and then I ran out of strings. But again same principle I could learn another position and it would enable me to move across the guitar. So if we wanted to call this position that I just played the first position and if you don't know it don't sweat it. I just I just want to show you this. In case this is where you are in your playing so I could move to the second note which is a and play. The exact same notes again but I'm simply starting on a so I'm playing and then I've got D now. The bigger picture. Here is with these two positions instead of just playing up and down each one which is important no doubt about it but I could start moving around the fretboard combining these two and as I get comfortable with that I learn another position in another position and that sort of thing and what it really does is.It just opens up my availability. I'm gonna move around wherever I want to go so if I hear the sound of a core and then if you minor comes out Annagh or whatever it might be. It gives me this larger palette to work from to get more creative which hopefully will sound better to whoever's listening to me. But more importantly. It's going to be more exciting for me as a player because I'm not just doing the same thing. I'm not just going up and down over and over and over now don't get me wrong.There's a needless to say there's a million wonderful things that you can do in one position. I'm just saying if you haven't really explored the fretboard moving across this way. I strongly recommend that you start learning how to do that just a little bit again don't don't adopt the all-or-nothing attitude where you have to develop all seven positions of diatonic or all five positions or you have to learn every you know scale in every key just start with something that that's kind of in your wheelhouse. At this point what keys do you play in what scales are you learning and how could you take just that idea and starts panning it out across the fret board. A little bit more to have some fun and get more creative hey. This is Steve Stein from guitar zoom thank you so much for watching this video if you enjoyed it please do me a favor like it and share it and also make sure that you subscribe to this channel so you're always notified. When I release new videos.

Subject Line: 🎸 Unlock the Secrets to Mastering the Fretboard!

Content:

Hello %FIRSTNAME%,

It's Steve Stine from Guitar Zoom here, and I'm thrilled to guide you through a game-changing guitar lesson today. We're diving into "Mastering Your Fretboard: Beyond the Basics," aiming to transform your play from repetitive patterns to dynamic, expressive solos across your guitar's entire fretboard.

[VIDEO THUMBNAIL] 🎸 Unlock the Secrets to Mastering the Fretboard – Click Here to Learn!

Here's what we're covering in today's lesson:

• Visualize the Fretboard as One Unit - Instead of seeing the fretboard as isolated 'boxes', learn to view it as a continuum. This perspective change is essential for fluid, creative playing.
• Explore Beyond the First Position - Break the habit of sticking to familiar patterns and discover how shifting positions can breathe new life into your play.
• Connect Scales Creatively - We'll demonstrate how linking pentatonic and diatonic scales not only expands your reach but also enhances your musical expression.

🎸 Unlock the Secrets to Mastering the Fretboard – Click Here to Learn!

Today’s lesson isn’t just about learning notes but also about boosting your confidence and creativity on the guitar. By exploring the whole fretboard, you’ll unlock new possibilities in your playing.

🌟 Pro Tip: Start simple. Begin with two positions you're comfortable with, and gradually connect them. This approach helps build a solid foundation without overwhelming you.

Are you ready to elevate your guitar skills and enjoy your musical journey to the fullest? Click the video, pick up your guitar, and let’s journey across the fretboard together!

Until next time, Steve Stine and the GuitarZoom team

P.S. Liked what you learned? Don’t forget to like, share, and [subscribe to our channel] for more awesome guitar tips. We love hearing your feedback and any requests for future lessons!

00:00 All right so now let's bring in our shape again. We know this was e and weari fingered it and we moved up one fret well. Now our first finger is sitting at that note. F E one fret higher is F and we visualize that with our first finger F right now I'm making it F if I move up again. I'm making F sharp. This is an F sharp major which you may have never had before if you just knew open chords. 00:31 This is G G major now you might say well. This is G major. Yes. It is so is this which one do you play whichever one you want okay what I think about is is not these. Barre chords are great for many reasons but but the fact that you can play G in two different places on your guitar is is not the most important reason. Although it's it certainly is going to become useful as you keep going what I think is really awesome as you can play F sharp now where you never had that before okay so e becomes after which you now know. 01:02 Because of these notes on the sixth string. The chord name just takes on wherever you are so if you're in the first fret. This is Avenue F sharp G sharp or a flat whatever you want to call it a hey sharp B C and so on right so if you wanted a flat you're gonna make a slap if you wanted f-sharp you're gonna make f-sharp. The shape never changes. It's just where you're going so here's the awesome part. If you think about it. You have 12 notes in this chromatic scale. 12 notes on this six string you have just learned how to play all 12 major chords because there are only 12 major chords. There are 12 of every kind of chord that you could possibly learn but there are only 12 of each and you've just learned how to systematically create this app. 02:02 This is F for the rest of your life. This is f sharp for the rest of your life a sharp or B flat whatever you want to call it that's huge down. Here you had you know a G and a D and a C or something like that you've got everybody. Now. So if you think about this again. We're gonna keep going but when people say well. 02:30 Why don't you make an a chord or a D chord or a C chord move. All those up and I said earlier you can but please understand. You're not creating anything new by doing that you're just creating a different place to play these same chords that we're learning. You've now learned how to play F sharp you can learn how to play F sharp 30 different ways on this guitar but the beautiful thing is you've learned how to play it one way which is way more powerful than zero right. You can play an F sharp chord. You can play a B flat chord okay and you can play it comfortably the sixth string. The E chord is a wonderful comfortable way of playing a barre chord. Now. We're gonna talk about other Barre chords but please understand that when we talk about those we're not creating anything new we're just creating a different place to play the same thing. 03:21 Just like this is G and this is G it's not creating anything new. It's just creating a different place to play it but F sharp that's new G sharp or a flat whatever you want to call it. That's new that's huge okay so let me give you one more thing to kind of blow your mind. Here. This is E we now understand that that you up one fret this is F watch. This this is F minor f-sharp minor G minor G sharp or a flat minor. So these two worlds are now coming together okay. 04:06 The notes move you up and down the guitar. Then what you're gonna do is you're going to close that chord by giving it a quality of major or minor. So if you want B minor you're gonna go to B 7th fret 1 3 5 7 right and you're gonna make it minor. This is gonna be B banana. It's gonna be be anything you want okay. Once you get there you can close it with the quality that you want if you want a flat minor that doesn't need to be scary a flat minor a flat minor. That's all you do so you're learning how to move up and down the guitar with the notes the chromatic scale that you're learning once you get there you're going to clo. The your chord with the quality. 05:00 Is it major or minor if it's major middle finger stays down if it's minor. Little finger comes up because it's mimicking the e chord. That's why it's not just middle finger down and middle finger up. It's because E is like this e minor is like this. Therefore all of its relatives are gonna do exactly the same thing so you have just learned how to play twenty-four chords. How awesome is that right you've learned how to play all your major chords and all your minor chords by taking that one finger off okay. This is huge stuff here so again. I want you to take some time and absorb what you've just learned think about the way that you're making them write the technique. The art of what you're doing so you've got the chord itself that shifts up and down making it major a minor which I was called clothing right and then you've got the the chord name which is ABCD. If Angie all that kind of stuff that we've been talking about and then lastly of course. You've got the technique of actually being able to make this chord so you've got the quality of the chord. The name of the chord and then technique of actually making the chord and once all that starts making sense to you come on back and let's keep learning.

Subject Line: 🎸 Master Barre Chords Like a Pro!

Content:

Hello %FIRSTNAME%,

Welcome back to another enlightening session with Guitar Zoom! I'm Steve Stine, excited to take you through today's lesson: "Unlocking Barre Chords: Your Gateway to Full Fretboard Freedom." This lesson is all about understanding and utilizing barre chords to maximize your guitar skills.

[VIDEO THUMBNAIL] 🎸 Master Barre Chords Like a Pro – Click Here to Learn!

In today's tutorial, we're focusing on:

• Mastering F Major and Beyond - Learn how shifting your first finger up the fretboard not only changes the chord but also opens up a new world of musical possibilities.
• Discovering New Chords - From F# Major to G Major, I'll show you how to use one simple shape to unlock every major chord on the fretboard.
• Expanding to Minor Chords - Transition easily between major and minor by adjusting a single finger, unlocking 24 different chords from just one shape.

🎸 Master Barre Chords Like a Pro – Click Here to Learn!

Today’s lesson is not just about learning chords but also about transforming the way you see and navigate the fretboard, empowering you to express yourself more fully through music.

🌟 Pro Tip: Focus on the transition between major and minor barre chords. Practicing these changes will significantly improve your flexibility and confidence on the fretboard.

Ready to dive deeper into barre chords and truly make the guitar an extension of your musical expression? Click the video, grab your guitar, and let's master these essential skills together!

Until next time, Steve Stine and the GuitarZoom team

P.S. Enjoyed this lesson? Please like, share, and [subscribe to our channel] for more guitar tutorials and tips. We're excited to hear your progress and any requests you might have!

00:00 Hi this is Steve Stein from Guitar Zoom uh and what we're going to do now is. We're going to start learning how to memorize the entire fretboard using the pentatonic. Uh concept the pentatonic scale um. What I find a lot with people is that they'll learn like the main position what we call the first position and um then they sort of fall off from there and I'm telling you. One of the best things that you can do is to learn how to play that pentatonic across the entire fretboard for two reasons number one for confidence. In musical freedom. I mean to be able to use your whole fretboard versus just a little bits and pieces of your fretboard um. 00:41 There's something extremely rewarding musically for that um so that would be the the primary reason but the secondary reason certainly would be as you start expanding your scales and you start getting into things like dionic scales and modes and all those other things that could be coming your way. Sometime this pentatonic platform doesn't change it. It will still be there you just add more notes into the pentatonic to create those larger scales. But the framework or skeleton of that pentatonic stays the same. So it's it's very much beneficial for both of those reasons whether or not you Explore More scales or not it certainly helps you in your ability of being able to just be more creative so when you want to play something you can just pick and choose where it is that you want to go across the guitar. So the what we're going to do is. 01:34 We're just going to break down the five pentatonic positions how they connect together how to practice them um and then we're going to look at how that converts into major pentatonic and then that way you can apply that to any key you want now. I'm going to be doing this in the key of a um I often when I teach I try to keep everything in the same key just because it's easier for you to visualize and absorb and then you can take the entire framework and you can move it wherever you want after that. So what we'll do is. We'll just start off with the first position of a minor pentatonic which is the fifth fret right here and we're going to be playing 58 57 57 57 58 58. Now Penta means five. 02:19 Uh tonic means the root note so what I'm doing is. I'm playing 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 and then I run out of strings so the notes in this case and you don't really need to worry about this. But I just want to show you this. The notes I'm playing are a c d e and G so right here a c d e and G starts all over a c and then I run out of strings now to summarize the notes. I'm playing are a c d e and G and needless to say those notes exist down here on the guitar and they exist up here on the guitar. So this is just a a small piece of the bigger picture that we're seeing right here and again often times. 03:00 People will get stuck and they'll just play in this one position which is a great position. But they'll get stuck in that one position playing those notes over and over and over and what you have to understand is these notes a c d e g a c d e g a c d e g exist all over the place so first thing for us to do is to memorize this position if you haven't already done that and you probably have but you want to make sure that you've got that absolutely memorized and real quick. 03:32 Here. I don't want to talk your ear off but let's understand the difference in my mind between absolute and relative relative is you can figure it out. Absolute is you know it like the back of your hand. There's nothing to think about you know it and when it comes to music when you're trying to create music when you're trying to improvise when you're trying to write and certainly when there's pressure if there's somebody watching you if you're performing in front of somebody if you're playing along with some other people. Things like that you're going to have an element of pressure because you have a responsibility at that point to be making some sort of Music. 04:08 Whatever that is and if all the information that you're trying to expel as you're playing is relative. It means you don't really really really know what you're doing and therefore your confidence level goes down and so what I want you to really think about is even in this case of this discussion about the pentatonic is it isn't really about quantity as much as it is quality if all you knew was this first position but you knew it like the back of your hand. 04:36 It's useful and functional to you but you don't want to end there right. The next thing to do is to learn the next position and get that absolute and now you've got two positions that you can work with you know through your guitar playe career. Once you get that then you move on to the third position and so on and we'll talk about what those positions are. But that's kind of the way. This should work if you know a lot of things on the guitar but everything that you know is relative um not absolute. Then the problem is is that you really can't use a lot of it and certainly can't use it in a in a you know. A real confident way.

Subject Line: 🎸 Elevate Your Guitar Game with Full Fretboard Mastery!

Content:

Hello %FIRSTNAME%,

It’s Steve Stine from Guitar Zoom, and today I'm excited to share with you a powerful approach to mastering your guitar’s fretboard. Dive into today’s session: "Mastering the Pentatonic Scale: A Pathway to Fretboard Freedom," where we'll explore how to seamlessly navigate through all the pentatonic positions.

[VIDEO THUMBNAIL] 🎸 Elevate Your Guitar Game with Full Fretboard Mastery – Click Here to Learn!

Today's lesson highlights:

• Understanding the First Position - Get a solid grip on the first pentatonic position to start using your entire fretboard with confidence.
• Connecting the Positions - Learn how each pentatonic position links to the next, paving the way for effortless transitions and greater musical expression.
• Applying Major and Minor Scales - We’ll break down how to shift between major and minor pentatonic scales, giving you the versatility to adapt to any musical key.

🎸 Elevate Your Guitar Game with Full Fretboard Mastery – Click Here to Learn!

This lesson is crucial not just for technical skill development but for fostering your musical creativity and freedom. By mastering the pentatonic framework, you're setting a strong foundation for exploring more complex scales and modes.

🌟 Pro Tip: Focus on absolute memorization of each position before moving to the next. Knowing these scales intuitively will boost your confidence and performance under any conditions.

Ready to unlock your full potential on the guitar? Click the video, pick up your guitar, and let’s start this journey to mastery together!

Until next time, Steve Stine and the GuitarZoom team

P.S. Enjoyed this lesson? Don’t forget to like, share, and [subscribe to our channel] for more detailed tutorials and tips. Your feedback and requests for future topics are always welcome!