I don't comment often, but I have watched several of Chris Sherland's videos. While I am far from being an expert guitarist, I do have a musical background with several instruments. Chris has an approach to teaching theory in a way that is so clear, concise and informative that he makes his lessons truly applicable. On top of that his delivery is very calming...almost zen-like. I really appreciate all the insight provided and more importantly your selfless approach to sharing this knowledge. Thank you, Chris!
Thank you, David, I appreciate that. Let me know if there are subjects you’d like to see me cover or questions you need answered. Thanks for being here.
Your teaching style is easily one of the best on all of YT. Clear, concise, purposeful, and linked to a bigger picture within music theory that makes total sense. Incredible work!
I feel like every single youtube guitar teacher has commenters saying they're the Bob Ross of guitar, and I'm always like yeah maybe sure. But you sir, are the true one and only Bob Ross of guitar. I think that finally settles it.
Chris - thanks for the shoutout about the great Curtis Mayfield. I suspect many of today’s younger guitarists are unfamiliar with Mr. Mayfield’s wonderful playing and songwriting, although they’ve surely heard of Jimi Hendrix. I saw them both perform live in NYC - Jimi at Madison Square Garden and Curtis at the Felt Forum. Both were magnificent in their own way. I appreciate your straightforward, clear approach to teaching and playing. Also appreciate your mentioning Cornell Dupree. Cheers, Mate.
THIS...this is exactly why I appreciate Chris' insights and instruction. Hands down, Chris is in my top 3 YT instructors. As a newbie/intermediate level guitarist, the explanations and perspective Chris provides in his lessons is literally second-to-none. Just signed up to be a Patron (and I am not a fan of that company). Love the content Chris! Thanks so much!!
My gosh these principles are so fun and beautiful. We are all so fortunate to have such a brilliant, talented, humble mind sharing this stuff. Thank you, Chris.
It's a gift when a person can demystify complexity and explain it plainly for the benefit of others. You have the gift, and we are grateful that you share.
Great lesson! I have found that my timing and rhythm in general has greatly improved since I started incorporating rhythm and lead into the same measures and such. It also, makes me think and work more, which has the long term affect of vastly improving my ability to improvise. On top of that, it keeps me aware of the current chords that are playing, which I used to completely miss. Not to mention figuring out creative ways to get back in "the box" timing-wise. Thanks!
Wow, there's a list of benefits for you! That's great Vaughn. Isn't it astounding how much impact a single idea can have on your capability? Curiosity I say...that's the key!
Dang, I didn't know what I've doing all along was an actual technique I was allowed to explore...I have permission now. I feel relieved thanks for the clear explanation 🤙
Yup, that's a thing. The great news it that it's totally a developed skill, so the only thing between you and success is time and effort. Often when I come across a new piece I run it with triads, up and down the neck, and say the changes out loud. This helps the info sort of "seep in" to my brain a bit. I find it easier to tack after doing this.
E major gives a lot of possibilities in that kind of playing. Sounds awesome and reminds me of Slow dancing in a burning room by John Mayer. Thanks a lot Chris
Everyone says the same thing, but I’ll repeat… love the way you teach, Chris. Thank you! I love the mellow Hendrix vibe you have going on here. Beautiful!
08:20 I love how this note leads into the next chord! Gorgeous! Thanks again, Chris, what an amazing break-down of your technique! BEST teacher! Folks, go subscribe to his patreon!!!
It's so Ironic this was recommended to me today, as I spent around 4 hours figuring this out organically yesterday. Still I loved every second of your playing.
I’ll definitely be watching this one a few times over. This is something I really want to be able to do confidently. Thanks again Chris for putting this idea on the fretboard (where it belongs) lol😅
I wish I had found your channel years ago. And I wished, that all guitar teachers in the world were obliged to use your didactic way of teaching guitar. It's only now, that dots really really connect, after watching some of your videos.Especially those about triads.
Hey Humans, I’m so glad this one got in! These light bulbs are important moments. While CAGED is great for some folks, it actually gets in the way for others. Happy you’re here!
I liked this video very very much! The melody sounds smooth and very progressive as you aply the chord changes. I always love to ear the long-short strum of the chords and of course the lead phrases which here were very well thought to connect them and make the blend. Incredible technical and challenging in my view. Well it is time to study or to keep studying! Thank you Chris!
How best to blend melody and chords is probably my favorite guitar-related topic. Thank you! The dyads at 5:30 remind me a bit of Bowie’s China Girl. Very cool.
Thanks for a great lesson! It's something I've been working to resolve over the last few months - how to blend rhythm and lead. From looking into the topic, I've seen there are MANY ways to do it. I've chosen to stick to 2 ways for myself. The first way is going from bigger chords down to double stops (using double stops as melody lines). Another way is reducing the chords to double stops, then playing double stops and single note runs together...this works well for the same way that the first way does - it finds a way to make the chords and melody lines not too different from each other. I've seen Eddie Van Halen go from full chords down to single notes seamlessly, but I think for most people it sounds much more fluid going from either full chords to double stops, or from double stops to single notes. Ofcourse you can also slowly transition within the same song, from full chords, down to double stops, then down to single notes. I've noticed two general tips that help when mixing rhythm and lead (however you choose to do it), is to stay hyperaware of the beat, and to think about ways to mute unwanted strings ringing out when transitioning from chords to double stops or single notes. Thanks again for the lesson, it's given me some new insights!
Just commenting so this blows up. You are a great instructor and I hope these videos get a huge audience. You channel should grow and hopefully that allows for the next level in your production. Thanks for the great content!
@@curiousguitarist KISS principle works. Your video's are authentic. This video is an awesome piece. I assume a lot of long term hackers are like myself where we know the bits but need someone like yourself to pull it together and show in a relatively simple piece, the relationships between the chords, the relevant pentatonics and use of triads/dyads for a bit of spice.
Simply exquisite Chris. 🤩 Watching and listening to you play is mesmerising. I love how you teach a premise and bring it to life. I particularly love how you create the tension and inspiration for me to become a better guitarist, as well as a better musician and artist.
Once again exactly what I was looking for! How do you manage to do that? Awesome lesson as always! By the way, I love that you describe everything you did in terms of the scale degree and the chord being played. So much more useful in understanding how and why you’re creating the noise you’re creating than fret numbers! So many other online instructors explain almost exclusively in fret numbers, it’s hard to connect that with practical use, and WAY harder to actually take something from it. Thanks for the awesome lesson Chris! As always.
Loved this demo piece you used to illustrate the techniques - got a very Purple Rainy vibe to it. Will try this out tomorrow (nearly 1am now here) on some chord progressions to see how interesting they can be made by just applying a little curiosity in mapping the path from one chord to the next. Thanks for opening another door, Chris.
Sound advice! Thank you much! My default is to see the diatonic around everything, but not everything is in a key, so I'll work on this a bit for sure.
Well done Chris, enjoyed this very much. I use a similar way of integrating leads and fills into the chord structure/progression. After a while you just start to see where it's safe to go and what your options are. The chords will tell you. As usual your lesson has me looking forward to my practice and jam tonight.
Clear, beautiful, view of your work on the fretboard. Easier to watch and pick up your technical. RU-vid guitare teachers don't do that. Great job 👍. You can learn a ton from your clear fretboard filming.
@@curiousguitarist Ben eller can't do it, Chris Stine can't do it. You must have special lights to light up your fretboard. Hopefully, the other teachers wake up. Eller knows a lot, but poor videos, hurt his work. Same for James James.
@@LaTrec9 Ben Eller and Steve Stine are such great players. Ultimately it's all about preference I guess. There are so many ways to see it, learn it, develop your sound and capability. Some resonate better than others with each of us. I'm glad that what I do helps folks, but every now and then I gotta go see Uncle Ben for a good dose of why I might still suck at guitar :D I watch his Sails Of Charon video about every few months or so...still have a hard time with that piece and he makes it seem so doable!!!
Dang Chris, good to see you doing these videos! Used to play music with you back in the day. Kind of funny that I stumbled upon this. Hope you are doing well man.
Thanks Robin! Glad you liked this one. I always find it refreshing to break down something like this into 2-3 ideas to pursue in order to build a new skill. Thanks for watching!
From the Sound Guy perspective you are doing highly important work to educate. The melding, balance, for the guitars to combine in a fruitful manner commands a serious undertaking. Building pockets for each to ride in whereas there is mutual reinforcement achieved. I often think of the two as one giant instrument. To have everyone working toward the same goal is imperative. Thanks.
Really awesome and straightforward. That’s making music. That little piece really had a beautiful, bluesy Hendrixy feel in the pentatonic scales. Does it change character if throw in notes from the minor scale? Would it work as well or change the feel? I guess better try it!
Hey, Dan. Glad you enjoyed it. That piece is in the key of E major. The second chord in the song is a C#minor and I'm using minor pentatonic over that chord every time it comes around.
@@curiousguitarist Thanks Chris! This is exactly where I get confused about modes. I guess what I’m asking is can you use the natural minor scale there (Aeolian mode?) and will that change up the feel altogether? Am I making any sense or am I confused? Really appreciate your teaching!
@@Dan-zq5wt yup, this particular piece is “diatonic” (in one key) and uses chords and notes from the natural minor scale, Aeolian. You’re right on track!
Some folks feel like the Eb tuning resonates better, many say it's easier (as you stated) to bend heavier strings (which is what many Strat players prefer). It's all too much of a hassle for me, but I get it...if it feels right, it's right!
How do you play your rythym/ melody while improvising? Are you aware of or planning ahead what rythym you're using while you go? For example are you choosing to play a triplet, followed by a half note, followed by 2 16th notes and a 16th note rest, etc etc?
Wait on....If you have a collection of licks or "sentences" of notes, then you can just determine how long the total sentence or lick goes for, eg 1 bar, 2 and half bars, or half a bar etc, then you can string these blocks of notes together, so you don't actually have to count every little micro time interval. 🤯
Another great lesson. So, if the progression is A Major to D Major to E Major--so Major Blues, but the vocal melody has a flat 3 and a flat 7 in it, when I solo over this, major and minor pentatonic both sound pretty good, but major sounds a little better...which to choose??
This is a great lesson, however can you combine the E minor pentatonic scale with the Emajor scale over an E major chord. It seems to work but I don't know why as far as theory goes. Do you do This?
That example works best over a Dominant 7 chord. The minor pentatonic scale can work over a straight major chord but it introduces both the flat 3rd (minor indicator) and the flat 7th. So ultimately these two notes force a very minor tonality over the major chord. Where as the dominant chord has the flat 7th in it already and the flat 3rd simply becomes a “blue” note, especially when slightly raised. Hope that helps! Love the curiosity!
Mostly pentatonic scales that match the chords. The full TAB explains it pretty clearly, but just use the pentatonic scale with the same name as the chord you’re planing.
Hey Chris, great video, this is my ultimate goal for guitar. This was clear, but my one question is how to know what pentatonic scale shape to throw on the chord? You said use the corresponding scale, but not sure what that means. For example, when you went to the A at one point, you used box 3, but I would have thought to use box 5 (the box you used for the C#m chord). My thinking is because in the key of E, I’m using box 2, and sliding down to the 5th fret area brings me to box 5, landing with my first finger on the fourth fret.
You'll always be safe using the major pent. over any major chord, and the min pentatonic over any minor chord. The actual "positions" don't really matter that much as long as you can find them and play them. Maj = maj, and min = min. That's the simple rule.
@@curiousguitarist ahh got it. I know you mentioned that, but it didn’t click until I tried it just now. Not going to lie, I’d love it if you made a series on this! So much to learn. Thanks for all the help as always.