Why Beginners Always Struggle With Guitar Solos 

Dude!! I have a student with autism and he see shapes extremely well. The pentatonic scale had him stuck because it was all he could see. He was playing the shape. This is amazing. I know this will be a winner. Thank you!

“Close Your eyes, and play in the dark, feel the music flowing through you”. - Carlos Santana.

Bro you really help some of us old school players jump start. I'm in my 50's and did not grow up learning guitar with you tube videos and am like a kid in a candy store with all these really cool video lessons everywhere.

1. Play licks instead of scales. 2. The most important note of any lick is the last one, it defines the musical meaning of the lick. 3. Instead of noodling aimlessly, use theme and variations. Play a lick, then play it again but varied in some way. It gives folks listening a handle to understand your melody.

I watched this last Friday and a light came one! For the first time in my life I was at a jam session at the weekend and when asked to take the solo, I did so without fear. Just noodling around those two shapes (after transposing them into the key in which we were playing, of course) was enough to make me feel I was offering something musical to the gig. That was the first time I have improvised in public. So thanks a million, Sean.

I tried using my ears to solo, but I just couldn't hold the pick at all.😂 But seriously, nice vid as always Sean!

I'm a bassist, looking to unlock the neck to facilitate good jazz soloing. This video was more useful than any of the bass tuition vids I've watched. Nice job all round, dude.

Oh man it was great when I figured this out one day in high school-it completely catapulted my playing and songwriting-and I’m so glad to see someone else catch onto it and explain it better than I could. Another thing I discovered then: go drop D, anchor the one-finger power chord to whatever fret you want, then, keeping the index finger as the anchor, use your ring and pinky fingers to play the shape. You can then move that anchored shape around the fret like a power chord. Great, easy way to come up with infectious melodies.

Thanks for another EXCELLENT lesson Sean. I've been playing rhythm guitar for over 50 years and only started 'noodling' in the last year or so, mainly using the pentatonic scale. Your method is going to switch my soloing up a gear. THANK YOU 👌👍🎸

Not many great musicians, unearth concepts make them easy to comprehend and teach in such a fun way. You are one of those super geniuses. Simply the best. Great learning from your videos Sean. Simply love them.

i’ve always been decent at soloing but never understood why, this makes it make so much more sense!! thank you so much

Thank you for these videos! I think the most impressive part is the fact that there are no cuts, you're a great teacher.

I've been working with scales and backing tracks a lot recently. This definitely helps with exploring different ideas instead of just playing up and down the strings.

Today i tried playing solo n i m so happy to play . Thank u so much. I have seen many videos but this is the best ...n u r right whatever u have said. U have an amazing way n i must say practical implication of explanation of what theoretically a student may know!! . I have been struggling for playing solos as there is so much n so many shapes n this is just simple n easy n it gives so much independence to play solos. Lovely. Thx a lot Sir.

The way you teach REALLY jives with me man. There is something so distilled about the way you teach. Thank you, you're great!

Finally a guitar RU-vid channel that makes sense to me. You have a very organic and intuitive approach to instruction! Well done!!

I've been stuck for years fiddling around with pentatonic, and major scales, but never being able to make it sound musical. Much appreciated!

That was enormously helpful. Thanks for posting this.

Hey there Sean, fantastic guitar tutorial. Your lesson provides a unique way too visualize the fret board. Thank you!

Okay, now some of you may be wondering why this looks so easy and sounds so good, but when you play it against a backing track it sounds terrible. Here's why: the A Major scale is not really compatible with the A minor pentatonic (does the major and minor give it away?) Some of the notes are the same, but if you're playing a blues or rock song that works fine with pentatonic, the A major scale has notes that are a terrible clash. The C# sounds fine while playing over an A chord, but play it over a D or E chord, and you're in trouble. If you play the G# in the A Major scale over the A or D chords, ecch (sounds great over the E chord, though)! If you're playing non-blues-based music this approach may work fine. First, for pentatonic players that are stuck in that rut - SING what you want to be playing first - short phrases, and then play them on the guitar. If it sounds boring singing it, it will sound boring playing it. Shorten you "phrases" and don't always go up and down the scale - skip over notes. You'll get better and better at this as you discipline yourself to this. And you will be able to come up with longer, more interesting phrases. You can actually use the method he explains quite successfully if you just move the A Major scale down 2 frets and use the G Major scale instead. This will work WAY better because there are very few "clash" notes in the G Major scale. And you get the benefit of two extra notes that aren't in the pentatonic (pentatonic means 5 tones), plus benefit from some of the ideas he is attempting to express. Just remember that you come back to rest on the A and E notes, just the way he explains, NOT the G and D notes that you might expect in the G scale. There are music theory reasons that this stuff works, but the important thing is that you get to hear what the notes sound like and how to use them. That's where the music theory came from to begin with, anyway. No one sat down and said, "oh, lets come up with a bunch of rules musicians will need to follow." What they did was listen to stuff and figure out what made it sound so good. Then they can have a shortcut to understand how to play certain things. Happy practicing! And don't be afraid to break some of the "rules" sometimes, and if it sounds good to you, well, there's probably another "rule" that you don't know yet that explains why LOL!

I like how you make things simple to follow. Really enjoy your channel. Thanks!

As Always another Nice one Sean !! I definitely see some light (bulb’s) coming up for guitar in 2022 from you going forward and you are the man inspiring us to keep up our motivation to enjoy the instrument 🎸!! 👍😊

I've been following you for a few years, like many years. You keep getting better all the time. Thanks for what you do and most importantly, how you do it!

I was stuck in pentatonics, probably annoying my listeners but u’ve opened another one for me to shine a little better. Thanks Sean.

This is a great method for teaching the mapping of the neck. It’s definitely going to go into the tool box. Thank you for sharing this idea!

Shawn that was a great lesson. I would like the demonstration of how you play those new shapes with a backtrack to see how a solo would really sound. Love your lessons keep up the good work.

Lovely lesson you've explained everything so well! Been to trying different ways to break out of the minor pentatonic scale and I thank you for these tips!

Love the simplicity and explanation. Was waiting until the end to hear you put it in practice over the loop.

Wow!!..I've seen this 3 string note thing before and didn't understand it at all and always went right back to pentatonic..but you broke it down so perfectly. And it really sounds so musical even in the first couple notes. Thank you!

Wow, this is in the top five of best video guitar lessons ever! Props, kudos, and gold stars!

Thank you for posting. I am trying to wrap my head around theory and it is super interesting but very confusing. The way you explain things makes so much more sense then anything else I have seen or read and always inspires me to get out the guitar and try things. Love the channel!

This is one of the most basic and in depth videos I have ever seen. As a person who has played for years without learning theory... I started to look up scales and theory and some breakthroughs came together, but visualizing the fretboard was still a dream goal one day. This seems like a way to be able to completely visualize the scale shapes in their most basic forms... and I cant wait to practice this.

Wow, blow my mind. Not only did it help me visualize new scales, it helped me memorize note positions. I'm really grateful for this vid, thanks man

Easily the best lesson I've seen for breaking out of the pentatonic shapes. I will be practicing this and incorporating it into my playing. Thank you!

You're a great teacher.... You make things simple but very, very deep and instructive..... I truly appreciate it.

Sean, Well done sir, I've been noodling and playing for years, you have taught me a lot. Cheers!

Took me a few minutes to understand what point you are getting at but I think I finally got it, and it makes so much sense. Thanks Sean, I never looked at the fretboard this way.

Excellent lesson Sean .. it's always amazing to find new ways of playing 12 notes .. thank you !

Great stuff. Ive been trying to get out of the pentatonic jail, and you're defintely giving the keys man. Will be checking out your videos in the future!

HA, dude this is awesome and makes so much sense. I have been playing around with the basics for years and always got/get lost when I start to play around and always fall off/out of key very quickly. Using the basic shape and keeping that shape as I "move around" makes so much sense. Trying to keep my pentatonic's together as I roam around the board always got me lost and frustrated - THANKS and GREAT STYLE, love the laid back attitude!

great lesson by the way, I've been playing off and on for years and never have I ever heard someone teach this. It took me forever to learn how to run the neck, and I'm still not great at it. thank you for helping to keep the music alive. Peace..

Another great lesson Sean! Congratulations on hitting 400k subscribers!

One shape to rule them all! I love it. ❤️ One of my favorite things about guitar is the way you can study it for years, but still keep finding new patterns or ways of looking at the fretboard.

Best explanation of scales I’ve ever heard. I’ve given up a few years ago, after memorizing several scales. Now there’s a simple, beginner friendly explanation. Thank you 🙏!!!

Another gem of a lesson! Thanks Sean!

This is a really solid mix of practical application and music theory. Not to heady, but gets people improvising. Nice!

I've always thought of you as a renaissance teacher, Sean. This "simple" lesson takes an old concept and make it palatable for beginners. Awesome.

Really cool stuff. You are the man Sean! Going horizontal with those slides really produces good solo sounds.

I like the three note per string teaching Sean. I always wondered about it. Thanks for explaining.

Holy moly that guitar is just beautiful

Wow this really helped me improvising again, I stopped playing for a while and a lot of the little things I learned subconsciously over the years came back with this little trick! Thx!

Very helpful. I would love to hear you play those solos against a jam track or loop, in the key of E or A to see how you apply it.

Having three per string allows so much better for understanding the full tone bend. My brain struggles with the trad shapes as i want to play with third fingers and really give it some. I think this will help. Thanks

I learned the pentatonic scale (all positions) and Major scale 3 notes per string(all positions). And when I play I kind of just lay the patterns over eachother. It's like I'm seeing the major scale, but I'm also seeing the pentatonic scale within the major scale. And it feels like I have a lot freedom to just do whatever I want far as soloing.

Great lesson, I’ve been playing about 1 year and have been struggling with soloing. I was using pentatonics but I couldn’t figure out how to be creative using them. I like the way this moves up and down the neck as well as low to high. Definitely going to experiment with this

This is just so awesome. Shapes. You know I will e practicing this ASAP! Thank you so much!!!

OMG, this helps so much! I indeed wish this is one of the first thing I was told when I started. Thank you so much! You made learning guitar easy!

I just recently broke out of the boxes of the 5 pentatonic shapes, but I was still stuck on the 5 notes (do, re,me,so,la). Trying to solo also held me in one of the shapes. This 7 notes available in an easy shape makes any solo much more musical and easier to do a melodic solo. This is VERY useful, thanks.

Great content Sean. It has really helped me to embrace the full major scale as I was finding it very hard. Thanks dude 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Thank you so much for uploading this, this was the video I needed! :)

Great vid! It also works really well with the fret marker blocks on the guitar. Makes the shape a lot easier to see than the first shape pentatonic, and gives a decent reason for them to be there, the way that they are. One thing that I thought that was missing from the explanation, and may be on purpose, was the lack of focussing on the current key's root. You mentioned the E note quite a bit (the V of A major) but didn't mention the A note and where it appears in both shapes... I find at least being aware of the key's root note a good basis for the solo's 'anchor'... Of course, your mileage may vary.

You killed it Sean! Beautiful and BRILLIANT AHA MOMENT! The issue is EAR not shapes! Sure shapes are a trick to learning, but IT'S MUSIC, not mowing the lawn! Well done man!!!

Man, not only did I enjoy the video as it’s directly squarely at me and my skill level right now, it was also awesome to see a RU-vid guy rocking a D’Angelico! Followed along with my DC premiere. Great video man, thanks much!

Sean, you are my sneaky favorite teacher. You break it down as a guitarist not just application.

I think I heard Mayer call it "having the guitar play you" (regarding relying on the shape and the habits your fingers get stuck in). I try to hum along with my playing or hum a tune first and then try and match it. That way I'm being intentional about what I'm creating. BTW- I have that guitar in red. Love the pickups. Not the tuners so much.

Thank you Sean, i have never thought of that. This is brilliant. It’s lightbulb moment for me! 🙏🏼 One question though, if the song is in minor key it would work if i apply this to its relative Major right?

Best instructional guitar video I’ve ever seen. Thank you sir. You’ve given us a tremendous gift! Thx.J

Probably one of the better instructional vids Re: guitar lead, that I’ve seen. I’ve been playing over 50 years. Thanks man!

Good job, Sean!

It's amazing that you can play the A Major scale in a musical manner and freak out a beginner. Even in the normal 5th fret position.They say wow that sounded like music rather than the pentatonic scale which always seems to go BLUES scale no matter what you play. Now, Jimmy Page ROCKS the pentatonic but his sweetest solos always find those HALF STEP scale tones to round out a solo whether he's pulling off,hammering on or bending to them! Great lesson as always.Don't forget Major Pentatonic,which is not taught nearly as much as the Minor.

Another solid gold homerun lesson! THANK YOU, SEAN!!!!!

I really appreciate the different way to see the fretboard because i was always held back by the scales and note letters. Having a visual geometric representation of it lets me see it a whole new way. Awesomeness

This lesson would be a good segue into the Ionian mode. The first pattern you show with the open strings is also one of the solo's in LA woman by the Doors

That is amazing Sean....Thanks for for freeing me from the "stuck in a rut' habits of a lifetime.

Great lesson and tips! Been playing for over 30 years and still learning. Thanks!

Wow, this is killer...15 mins in to applying this technique and already experiencing success. Jamming to a Blues backing in A, I stumbled on the link between the chord triads and these patterns...mind blown as for a second I sounded pro! I have been playing for a long time but struggle to focus on most conventional teaching as I get distracted easily. Also I am a visual learner/experimenter so this is already proving to be helpful. Thanks!

ive played guitar for years and I can solo very well its just improv I stick to one part of the scale etc. watching seconds of this video just improved my playing to a level I didn't even know I could do. As soon as you showed the a major I just instantly pieced everything together and now im using the whole fretboard without sticking to just one little part of the fretboard. Thank you so much man its been such a hurdle ive been stuck with!

Great stuff… I used patterns like this for playing bass in gigging bands for decades..

I’ve been learning Octopuses Garden, and this is so relevant! This is all over George’s choices on the solos! Thanks!

As a seasoned guitarist….nit lead guitarist, this is probably the best video explanation of easy lead soloing…superb explanation!

I like when teachers simplify! One thing, does the one shift for the key of A happen in any other key? Does the shape for E work for every other key, except A?

Completely agree that most people use their shapes instead of their ears when soloing

I've been playing for quite a long time (very casually) ... never thought to connect the scales like this. Incredibly well taught, thanks!

Great video Sean! Many thanks and all the best for 2022

Ive always been fascinated by how Kurt H from Metallica likes to switch from Minor to Major to change the entire tone in the song. He does it in one and master of puppets, it sounds so cool but I can’t seem to pull it off without just memorizing one of his songs.

Wow this is great, but I already )earned the pentatonic major, and the major scale in pretty much every key. This would have saved me a lot of time. Dude you're stuff is great. How about doing a video on being just plain nervous when you play in front of people. I'd rather play in front of a thousand people, than just one or 2

Really cool tidbits of knowledge man, thanks for sharing!

Very helpful, thanks. This will make practicing much more productive. I must confess, I had to keep backing up and watch again because I kept getting distracted by that beautiful green guitar. Your lesson was clear and your presentation was very pleasant, thanks again.

After struggling with the pentatonic shapes, this is like scales falling off my eyes. Can you do a similar lesson for the minor scale? So that the soloing sounds bluesy rather than like the Allman Brothers playing Jessica?

Well. I'm mystified! Sean at first explains how simple his 'new' scheme is, as if it's some wonderful revelation, then goes on to show that it's just as complicated as traditional guitar scale shapes. I must have missed something? I'll try again.

This was great, it opened up new territory for me immediately. Nothing like a little shift in your frame of reference to kick start some new ideas. Thank you, you handsome gentleman, this one’s a keeper.

I just found this video. THANK YOU…!!! This helps so much, breaking the guitar into puzzle pieces makes it so much easier and just made me a better student. The smoothness and relaxed playing you do is a huge breath of fresh air. I can feel the intake of that air, flow straight to my finger tips. An Awesome Lesson…!!!!

I played guitar for 20 years without ever learning the pentatonic shape. When I took solos, I was doing what I later realized was playing modally. I did it by ear 'cause I thought it sounded cool. Later I was taking lessons in music theory and thought "hmm, in all these years, I've never investigated the famous pentatonic scale on guitar." So I gave it a shot and my first thought was "this is the right tool if I want to play boring blues/rock cliche leads."

Eye opener! In school, I had a horrible time adjusting to algebra as a method of mathematics. The way that it was presented to me just didn’t click. I limped across THAT finish line. It took decades before i saw a RU-vid video that presented it to me so that I could at least look at it as a helpful method. This lesson is like that for me. I’m going to have to noodle with it. Don’t get me wrong, algebra still blows but, you know what I mean!!

Oh Sean, thank you! I've struggled understanding the fretboard as a beginner. This helped significantly. Something definitely clicked in my mind.

Dude!!! You are awesome for posting this! You and I look at the guitar the exact same way. I am going to teach my daughter the guitar this way instead of teaching her the “beginner” way of E,F,G,A (open,1,3,5..). The a major scale has also helped my piano abilities to develop and learn easier. You’re the first person to mention this scale in the 1000+ hours I have watched peoples videos over the last 20 years of playing. I mean that includes reading books too.

The problem is when you play a pentatonic line for comparison you’re not applying the same phrasing, dynamics and vibrato that you are in your major key examples. It’s an unfair comparison because you’re basically playing straight notes with no feeling in the pentatonic examples, presumably to prove your point. I think with a fair comparison it’s just as easy to improvise a musical sounding solo (maybe easier) with the pantatonic shape.

This was introduced to me as the “Clapton” method when I first started playing…. I guess it was a little different and also framed around the relative minor pentatonic scale.

I'm gonna plug my guitar in right now and widdly widdly these new shapes. Been playing minor scale forever. Thanks for the vid dude, recently discovered the channel.. like ya style and has quickly become a favourite 🤘

This was nicely done man .thanks for the work