If you like this lesson, definitely check out www.zombieguitar.com/ . It is a one of a kind site dedicated to teaching guitarists to understand the fretboard inside and out!!
I like this lesson a lot. As we discussed this week that is my area of improvement for 2023. Will look at the website as I am a member, what other resources are there for chord tone targeting.
@@duesenberger Hey thanks for the comment. To answer your question...I'd estimate that about 50% of the entire sites content is dedicated to chord tone targeting. There is A LOT of content on this VERY IMPORTANT topic!
Brian is like nobody else filling in the gaps with his teaching. He fingerpoints difficulties that are hard to explain, and therefore often not adressed by many other teachers. Like this lesson, playing the chord tones is an easy concept to introduce, but when trying to learn it, you run into difficulties like remembering chord shapes as well as finding notes and scales, many tasks to do at the same time. Brian with his concepts, makes it allot easier to get on the right track.
Absolutely right. Understanding it is one thing. Actually doing it on the guitar is the real difficult part. But if it wasn't for Brian I'd still be none the wiser. This will change my direction of practise.
Seriously man you are the best teacher on youtube! You've broken this intimidating concept down in a way that's manageable and understandable. Thanks s ton!
I'm 50. Been playing guitar forever. You are the best teacher I've seen in my life. So glad I found your channel. Music is an escape for me and I truly thank you for your lessons.
The real Players I know, give them a song list for the weekend, and they will listen to them a few times and have them down, instinctively know which bits make up the song and how to bluff or jam over tricky bits, you cant do that, just learning stuff by rote from Tabs or copying people.
@@LOFIGSD very true, I’m not there quite yet but little by little! I’ve found the whole learning riffs for a couple years definitely stunted my growth as a musician. Like you mentioned being able to basically play along to anything is the pinnacle of musicianship
@@kane6529 one of the big differences between Pro and good Amateur Musicians, is the Pro's drive the song, with confidence,. For a guitarist, open mic nights are good for acquiring that skill as you just have the microphone and your Guitar, I quite enjoy it, Jam's are good fun too, for stepping up and doing stuff you dont know, Blues is quite formulaic, but yeah, ask my to do Jazz or read dots, and I'm outa there.
Thanks Brian for helping to simplify this concept I am in the category you mentioned of chasing chord tones and trying to put it into solo concept challenging but the less is more idea is great I look for to working on this. Thanks for great lesson mate.
Outstanding lesson! I am familiar with all three steps however Brian put it all together with a clear explanation, visuals and playing examples. For me, this video is a great reminder to keep it simple and focus on what works. Now, the challenging part. “Practice makes perfect”. Thanks for the lesson Brian!
Great stuff Brian. Thank You!! The graphics are very helpful. I find that focusing on the lower four strings, and a lower extension makes things much easier for me. I've also found that for me, instead of thinking about notes, I think about the intervals. I've been working with 1-4-5 progression backing tracks. Knowing that the 6th interval, is the 4 chord, and that sliding up a fret is the 5 chords works well in my brain. :)
Brian does such a great job in making things simple. The cool thing is that he seems just to be talking to you as a friend. I think that this is what makes him a great teacher and why everyone takes away something that is useful, practical, and, with a little practice, easy to do. Appreciate you, bro! Thanks, Brian!
Excellent video! You really explain it so well that it's understandable. My challenge is first being able to recognize the chord changes and then trying to apply a triad that will work and sound good. Need to practice more! What you say about listening to what your ear says sounds good is really interesting too. I apply that concept a lot so I'll have to see if what I'm picking may be the chord tones.....hopefully so.
Your videos are perfect for those who are self learning regarding further information,tips and styles that can definitely enhance one's skills. Keep going man,you inspire a lot of guitarists out there who struggle learning by themselves and long for improvements. Lucky you're on youtube 💯
This is all so new to me. Just had the courage to start noodling two weeks ago. I would hit certain notes and it would sound so pretty. Now I know my sweet spots.
Your channel is awesome, this is too good for the average guitar noodler. Theory or anything that involves thinking intimidates simple minds. Thank you for your dedication
Love both of those, but take a listen to Andy Latimer of Camel. A couple of good starters would be Stationary Traveller and Long Goodbyes (both on RU-vid). He's my favourite melodic player.
As a jazz musician this is essential material which has to be mastered to build musical phrases, of course also using approach notes to the traid notes which give that chromatic musical feel ( great stuff). You gave a thorough overview, good work. I'd say it's Corona time now boys, please no excuses of saying you don't have time or other distractions, unless you want to remain a "Weekend Warrior " ( with all respect).
1,3,5 relation tones from the 1, 4, 5 tones are 'relatively' easy to find as well as the 7th when all the notes are in a repeating 4 note cluster or very close by(the fifth). Thank you again Brian.
I've watched a couple of your videos on this subject now and hands down, you answer most the questions in my head with out any bullshit added. You my friend, are legendary status. Could you make a video on structuring a solo? Like melody, repeat, freerun a bit, melody or whatever?
I've been playing over the CAGED chords and scales for a couple of years now; I've got the chords and scales pretty well memorized (but not the individual notes in either the chords or scales... right now, I couldn't tell you what the chord triads are to save my life other than they are I,III, V) but... it felt more like luck, or lack of ear training, to get that combination of notes that just fit and sounded like magic... I could get there but, quite frankly, I got there by accident or kind of stumbling on to it as I moved up and down and through the scales... but, this is that "key" I've been looking for... I'm a believer.
Really good stuff! What has helped me a lot was learning scales and/or patterns/shapes or groups of notes. I know what/where A# and Ab are but never think about notation when I'm playing or improvising a lead over a progression. For me "feeling" trump's speed every time. Shredding is impressive but other than emphasis... it's just a technique for me or a tool in the box. Thanks for all you do! Merry Christmas!
@@jberkley17 Teach yourself... Find do rei me fa so la ti do on the fretboard and notice that the pattern repeats itself. Learn that pattern. Know it in the sense you don't need tab or anything to play it on the entire fretboard. Get back to me when you've done that; it'll take a while...
Another awesome tutorial Brian ..... Part 3 made me especially think of an old quote from Epictetus "“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ..... so obviously supporting that, efficient and accurate absorption and understanding of a lesson, will not only increase personal knowledge considerably .... but will also avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and incorrect conclusions, resulting in maximum benefit from the tutorial. Thanks for your fantastic additions ......
Man this lesson is awesome I've been doing this instinctually for a while already thx to you brain I've learned all the scale on all 12 keys and all 12 + chord all up and down the fret board I tell you there is no substitute for hard work and thx you brain I'm reaching new high everyday now and can transcribe and transpose any song in seconds now thx Brian your a super awesome teacher man and if anybody want to get better get into brain's course I did and it super sure paid off ++👍
Awsome lesson! David Gilmour is the main reason I ever wanted to learn guitar! You answered so much of what I've been hoping to learn on how to melody to chords like David 🎸🔺️ 🌈 🌳 👽 🚜
Thankyou Brian for your time and efforts making these videos. You share a wealth of information that I think it would take year's to find out. Cheers fella. What's your thoughts on snowy white as a guitarist ?
Very helpfull. Been stuck in pentatonic noodling aimless for years with the goal being to learn to melody over chords like Gilmour since the start.. Hope you don't mind printing screenshots of that cord progression and scale box chord tone highlights to practice with looper 🎸 🔺️🌈 🤘
Came across this lesson by accident as I was researching carpentry tools. Anyway I have never seen a better video on this musical soloing concept and it was explained so well that after just watching this video once, I understand it all and a 50% chance of hitting a chord tone by accident even without trying is very interesting. For me soloing over a song and sounding great is now no longer a mystery.
Man, it's pretty easy to hear where you're from. I'm from S Jersey and you sound like a lot of people I know from Paulsboro NJ. It's that Philly outskirts on-the-river vibe. Good stuff cuz!
Good video, the more your ear becomes accustomed to the underlying chords (and Bass notes), the more instinctive this becomes, tbh I mainly sing and play rhythm Guitar, because, although I can do this stuff, I would rather play with really good lead Guitarists and let them do it better, at the end of the day, its the music that counts. Amazing how many guitarists you meet, when you ask them to play a song, actually dont know any!
This could not have come at a better time I've been looking at where I go next on my journey, and it was like looking up at a mountain's summit from the very bottom
Excellent tutorial Brian. I noticed something the other day while I was referring to the circle of fifths, I’m sure you have noticed this also. This may help your viewers especially those who are struggling with learning the notes on the fretboard. If you start at the top of the circle at “C” and then move counter clockwise the notes that follow are F Bb Eb then if we add the dominant note G next giving us C F Bb Eb G then 1st string C we have C F Bb EB G C all the notes for the 8th fret position. This holds true for any position, for example the fifth fret, “A” we move counter clockwise from A on the circle giving us A D G C E A. Third fret “G” G C F Bb D G. 7th fret “B” B E A D F# B. It reveals again the amazing versatility and importance of memorizing the circle of fifths. I hope I explained it clearly, I found this to be another gift the circle of fifths offers us. Rock on Brother, keep up the good work.
“Timing is everything “…,This is the perfect lesson at this point in my playing… I have recently realized how Chord Tones add so much Feel! Thank you Brian, for your amazing lessons! You make what seems to be complex, easy to understand and to actually start playing! 🎸😂
Hey glad to hear these vids are helping for ya! Chord tone targeting can definitely be life changing for your playing when you first find out about it. Thanks for watching! 😀
@@zombieguitar Thank You Brian! Want to say, you should be proud of yourself… You’ve taken what you love so much, music and guitar, and you have turned that passion into something that has helped God knows how many thousands if not 10’s of thousands or more to understand… Thank you again!
Nice instruction, Brian. Get as much mileage from one section of the fretboard before moving on. May I also suggest to throw in strategic chromatics enveloping the chord tones for flavour. Keep up the gr8 work!
So (thinking out loud), if I am holding down the chord and I select my melody from all the strings held down, I am playing chord tones (aka arpeggio notes) without even thinking scale patterns... The dunce's way. :-D I must keep at learning scale patterns. :-) I really appreciate how this lesson links chord changes and scale concepts into one whole integrated teaching. I am going to screen capture the graphics onto one poster and stick it on the wall. Thanks for the great lesson,Brian.
I wouldn't say that the scale patterns are the "dunces way". The scale is just as important as the chord tones. The scale is the first layer, and the chord tones are the second layer. Both layers are equally as important and are interconnected with each other 😀
Definitely one of your best chord tone videos imo. As a rough guide, if you only have a short time over each chord do you target the chord root notes or the 3rd or 5th? I know its subjective, but curious to what you would mainly play and does it differ if you're playing over a major or minor chord?
I usually play notes that are as close to each other as possible (sometimes the same note even if it is shared chord tone between 2 chords). That may mean you're playing the root of the 1st chord, followed by the 3rd of the next chord...as long as there is minimal movement from chord to chord. This is just my personal preference, and of course not a strict rule or anything!
I can say i like recomandation od Brian Kelly very much,he can set by these lesons the base od technic and solos and also how to get on with creating od everyone own guitar style for playing covers or new songs
Gilmore is also my favorite. I notice with him, he is more scale than caged but he used that too. He very cleverly hits the cord tones that are outside of the key scale while on that cord which is within the scale That cord has notes not in the key scale. He mixes the scale tones with outside cord tones when it counts most for impact. It's simple but effective. One or two notes here and there have major impacts. He uses the cord tone that is not necessarily within the key scale when it can fit over that cord. Clapton does that too.
That's exactly right. If out of key chords are used, then you should absolutely target chord tones of that out of key chord... specifically the note(s) that are not part of the key. Chord tone targeting always applies!
Brian, so many comments to read here so perhaps you already covered this but to my ears it’s knowing which notes to bend and when that makes all the difference. Have you (or will you) covered this before?
I do talk about common notes to bend here in this lesson: www.zombieguitar.com/solo-like-a-pro-in-8-weeks/ However to have a complete understanding of it, you'd want to know how to play the diatonic scale inside and out across the neck. This way you will always know which notes to bend a whole step or a half step (or even 1.5 steps)!
Yup use all of the notes surround the chord tones. The scale notes will usually sound better than the non-scale notes, but the chord tones will always be those "golden notes" 😁
Hi Brian I have a question about using scales when soloing. Usually, I see people use notes from scales (for example Ionian) to reach the climax of the solo, is there any other use? Is it always have to be ascending notes? For example if I want to land to the C note, should I play E F G A B ->C ?
You don't always have to play the notes in ascending order. You can play them in any order that you want. The scale is "the pathway" of notes that sound good in the key that you are in, and the chord tones are the best sounding "destination" on a per-chord basis. You are free to take as many twists and turns as you want along the way. If it sounds good, then go for it!
I’m learning that relative pitch really helped me with playing/phrasing melodic solos that sound like they have intent and a story. If I just use scale knowledge the solo sounds “scaley”. If I use chord tones then the solo sounds too simple or repetitive. Using licks doesn’t allow me freedom of expression and requires rehearsed riffs.
