Guitar 1: Start here
How to read these pages
What you need
- A guitar in tune. Thick string to thin string: E A D G B e.
- A pick, a pencil, and a metronome. Any free app or drum machine works.
- 10 to 15 minutes a day. Every day beats two hours on Sunday.
e|---------------------| B|---------------------| G|---------------------| D|---------------------| A|-----------5----7----| E|-5----8--------------|
Guitar 1: Start here
How to practice
The rules
- Always play with a click. One click is one beat.
- Start at the first BPM box. Play the exercise clean four times in a row. Tick the box.
- Then set the next tempo. A mistake means you are too fast. Go back one box.
- Hands tense? Stop, shake them out, slow down.
- End every session with two minutes of free playing. No rules.
The five notes
A minor pentatonic has only five notes: A C D E G. Most rock and blues solos you know live inside them. A is home. Start on A and end on A and it will sound right.
1.1Find home
Play the three A notes of the box. Say A out loud each time. One note per click.
e|---------5-------|---------5-------| B|-----------------|-----------------| G|-----------------|-----------------| D|-----7-------7---|-----7-------7---| A|-----------------|-----------------| E|-5---------------|-5---------------| 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
BPM
Pass: you hit all three A notes without looking for them.