CAGED Soloing | I - ii Progression (1) • G Shape
Added 2020-03-30 19:06:09 +0000 UTCNew here? Wondering where to start? Click here
WATCH IN THIS ORDER:
(1) G Shape (current lesson)
Hi everyone! I highly recommend you watch these in order! I filmed them all in order, so I frontloaded a lot of information in the first few videos. For that reason, I'm putting all the PDFs on this one video as a reminder for Patrons people to start here.
Other than that, this series is pretty straight forward - if you're not familiar with the roman numeral system, I recommend watching my first few Music Theory Monday lessons.
Oh! And here's the jam track: https://youtu.be/L8JBqEVTnqY
I've also attached the audio track for you to download
Click here for the community post about this specific lesson to ask questions, post pictures or audio, or to see what other people are saying about this lesson.
Check out the Lesson Archive for more Soloing lessons.
This lesson is part of my CAGED Soloing | I - ii Progression series
Comments
Hi Scott, thanks for the reply. Your explanation makes sense, but I can't really relate to it from my personal experience. For the past one year I've been playing along, improvising to old blues tracks for hours in a day. I rarely find the improvisation to sound good because I hit a lucky note. I find I was able to create some strong contrast in the improvisation that to me, sounds really sweet with the overall music. In contrast, whenever I try playing within the chords, I find that it's much harder to create those contrast that I really enjoy, and that things sound uninteresting to my ears. I find that there is a boundary that prevents me to play a strong contrast solo to the music. I don't know why my experience is different than yours. Maybe it's the different way people create music? I have far less experience in guitar than you so I'm just curious to why I can't seem to enjoy playing notes in the chord. But I'm happy that I can get a good thoughtful answer on this topic. Going to guitar channels in youtube, everyone seem to just advocate to this method, but I can't seem to find an answer to why it's better to play that way.
Michael Ting
2023-02-24 18:38:06 +0000 UTCIt's like this: When you're soloing using the scale, you might get lucky sometimes and find particular notes that really feel nice. Then you might wonder "how did I do that? Why did it sound cool? How do I do it again?" This CAGED solo practice puts you on the path to find those notes, know what they are, and be able to repeat something cool you've done. A good musician gets lucky sometimes, a great musician knows what they are doing. Does that help?
Scott Paul Johnson
2023-02-23 16:48:46 +0000 UTCScott, I can't seem to find the answer to why it's necessary to play over the chord notes, as opposed to playing simply over the scale notes. Not only does it complicate soloing so much, especially if I'm trying to play along old blues tracks, but I also don't feel playing over the chord notes to necessarily sound better.
Michael Ting
2023-02-23 10:34:47 +0000 UTCEvery lesson ist so so so great！Thanks you ，paul！
yao
2021-11-24 12:43:01 +0000 UTCYes that helps were limiting ourselves to 2nd position G shape but not problem going outside or inside to get the chord tones that we need and this go's for the other CAGED shapes as well...Many thanks
Lee Brooks
2021-10-13 13:37:56 +0000 UTCI see - yes. The Am shape chord is what you're aiming for to get the third of the chord. The G shape is the basic scaffolding, we're only limiting ourselves to that area of the neck, not limiting ourself to notes in the pentatonic scale. Does that help?
Scott Paul Johnson
2021-10-13 13:33:19 +0000 UTCI understand that we are trying to target the 1 3 5 of the chord B D F# for Bminor .So we trying to limit our self's to the G shape ??.I was only wondering if we could use the Amin shape because to get the 3rd of Bm. D is out side and inside this G shape and thats why I was asking about using the Amin shape at the 2nd position for when the Bmin chord is played on the jam track ..? Yes more lessons on soloing please
Lee Brooks
2021-10-13 13:24:03 +0000 UTCLee - the Am shape SCALE will actually fit in the key, but keep in mind that this series is about targeting the specific notes in the chords. Think of the CAGED scale shapes as a basic scaffolding and a way to remember what key you're soloing in. Then think of other chords (like Bm) as a specific set of notes to target inside of that scale. It might be time for me to do a lot more lessons on soloing
Scott Paul Johnson
2021-10-13 13:03:24 +0000 UTCScott, do we need to keep to the G shape pentatonic scale for the Bm chord or can we use the Amin shape to use over the ii chord ,just wondering .
Lee Brooks
2021-10-13 11:09:33 +0000 UTCAll of your PDFs are golden Scott. Awesome info.
Frank TP
2021-08-19 23:17:52 +0000 UTCI'm not Scott, but here's my answer! Look at where the root notes are situated in each shape. Take a C shape first and have a look at where they are. Then look at another chord in the C shape - the roots are in the same place. :) The thirds/fifths will also be in the same place in each shape, but it's easier to spot roots I think at first!
Emily Raw
2021-06-16 14:57:37 +0000 UTCHere's my tip - Find a whole note you want to practice (leave sharps/flats for now), use a metronome and with each beat go from fat string to thin string, of just that 1 note on each string. :) the metronome timing forces you to make quick decisions and helps it imprint where the notes are. Then when you've mastered that one note with a metronome at a decent speed, move to the next whole note. Once you knew where all the whole notes are, you know the gaps where the sharps are! :D
Emily Raw
2021-06-16 14:55:39 +0000 UTCI get your explanation of the theory Scott and I know the A, G, and E shapes from memory, but my problem is remembering the specific notes for each chord and where they are on the fretboard. what's the best way of learning the notes?
Cesar Labarca
2021-05-05 00:22:35 +0000 UTCI think I get the idea of playing each chord using all 5 chord shapes going up the neck (C with the C shape, C with the A shape, C with the G shape, etc.), but after that, I lose the thread. For example, at about minute 9:00 in the lesson, you refer to the middle diagram as "G-shaped." So I guess my question is, while I know what a G-shaped chord is, what makes a scale G-shaped, or any other scale "some-letter-shaped?" Thank you!
Russ Cobb
2021-04-30 20:10:17 +0000 UTC"It feels pretty f*cked up". I needed that in my life haha. Great video, thank you.
Daniel Fischer
2021-03-24 23:21:50 +0000 UTCThanks for that explanation. You clear that up for me very well in the A shape I-ii video (and the first melody video) so I realize now I sort of jumped ahead. I’m finding the I-ii videos very useful.
albergo
2021-01-14 14:09:06 +0000 UTCHi Albergo - you can use notes that are not part of the chord, but its helpful to think of the notes that ARE part of the chord as starting and ending notes for your phrases when soloing. I recently put out a Music Theory Monday three part series about making Melodies, I recommend you check those out! Making melodies is basically the same as soloing except soloing can be sloppier and is generally (though not always) done on the fly.
Scott Paul Johnson
2021-01-11 01:06:51 +0000 UTCWhat about the notes in the pentatonic not included in the arpeggios? The A is the 1 for the root chord and the flat 7 for the ii chord. Should we restrict that note only to the I or could we use it also when playing over the ii? And the C# is 3 for the I and 2 for the ii. Sometimes those notes outside the 1,3,5 of the chords sound good and sometimes not. Any advice or rules or theory about those "extra" notes? Or is it best to avoid them and only use the notes that are parts of the A or Bm chords?
albergo
2021-01-10 23:00:51 +0000 UTCI think that's really cool, that we have this extra notes in Bm chord. Very interesting. It creates a lot of new possibilities. Thank you for this lesson, I learned a lot from it!
viantria
2020-12-13 16:38:03 +0000 UTCIt would be super handy if you could zip all the attached documents from each lesson into a single file. Then i could easily have a document repo and practice structure/week by week lessons in entire parts easier than needed to download each document and organize them as such. Just a though! Love the content and thanks for taking the time to teach us all guitar!
Benjamin Carter
2020-09-09 17:47:16 +0000 UTCWould be nice to break this down since it has 4 chords.
Eric Scalera
2020-08-21 16:23:54 +0000 UTChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8rp5LNqRy0
Eric Scalera
2020-08-21 16:23:01 +0000 UTCActually been working on the backing track and it just doesn’t sound right.
Eric Scalera
2020-08-21 16:22:44 +0000 UTCI can certainly break down soloing over a whole song or progression at some point! Which songs would you like?
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-08-21 15:40:28 +0000 UTCScott, enjoyed your soling instructions. The instruction with the colored dots outside Patreon is very cool. My question is, if I hear a song that I like that has maybe three chords, how do I solo over that? Would it be possible to show a process step by step or even dissect a particular song. Song I see are not all I iii or I iiii progressions.
Eric Scalera
2020-08-21 04:58:31 +0000 UTCThought this lesson started in A using the G shape penta scale.....ooops.
Don Kerkhan
2020-08-20 02:51:12 +0000 UTCHi Don! Thanks for joining. Did you see the link in the description about where to start? This series may help you with what you’re asking about, but watching Music Theory Monday and Music Theory for Guitar course will get you up to speed on this video
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-08-19 21:48:15 +0000 UTCScott, hoping for a light bulb moment......the 1- ii progression in A.......over the 1-A chord.....the penta scale to play would be the A scale in the G shape......now.....to get to the next penta shape in that box area.....I hope I'm using the right terms.....wondering how that works......I get up and down the neck using the penta scales.....I'm seeing the shapes and learning the roman numerals of the notes and trying to learn the notes as well.....but my mind sees shapes and numbers easier than seeing the notes.....although I do know that knowing the notes helps w locating the same root somewhere else.....so.....does this make sense.....I'm looking to make sense of where the ii penta shape would be and what it's root note would be......please help me Scott when you can.....just signed up and trying to make sense of navigating the site.....I'll get it.....and thank you man !!!!!
Don Kerkhan
2020-08-19 21:40:34 +0000 UTCHi Rafael! Great question! You could watch all of them now, but I'd recommend spending a lot of time practicing the concepts in ONE of these videos until you feel like you are getting the hang of it. Move on once you feel you can create a handful of phrases that start and end on notes in the chord
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-07-24 18:06:32 +0000 UTCWhat level of mastery should we achieve on this before moving on to the next lesson?
Rafael Encarnacion
2020-07-24 05:38:53 +0000 UTCReally cool EZ!
Victor Parreiral Xavier
2020-06-06 13:47:04 +0000 UTCHi Paul! Yes. If you can master the basics, it gets easier and easier to focus on all kinds of changes!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-06-02 02:09:05 +0000 UTCGood stuff, Scott! Keep it coming. Curious why you start with the 2 instead of 4 or 5. Also wondering why you don’t have jam tracks that include movements between say 4-5 or 6-2-5. Is it a master the basics kind of thing?
Paul Janson
2020-06-02 01:41:06 +0000 UTCThanks for the inspiration
EZ Whip
2020-05-21 00:27:51 +0000 UTChey cool! how fun
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-05-20 23:58:37 +0000 UTCI made a little practice tool out of a whiteboard and some magnets so I can drill myself on the CAGED shapes and roots while eating breakfast, sitting at stop lights, watching movies, etc. I'm also going to make some flash cards so my wife can be entertained by watching me sweat and struggle. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9EH2CpzESqC5nPUH7
EZ Whip
2020-05-20 21:38:21 +0000 UTCI'd buy a shirt that says, "Feels pretty fucked up!" :p <3
EZ Whip
2020-04-23 09:08:22 +0000 UTCcool, yea I was looking for the mp3 file to download - or did I miss it again) - not the YouTube link.
Ronnie Wright
2020-04-18 14:40:15 +0000 UTCHere it is on Patreon. vhttps://www.patreon.com/posts/oops-here-is-jam-35450643
Erick Walsh
2020-04-18 14:08:36 +0000 UTCProbably missed it, but is the A Major I - ii Jam Track.mp3 Link somewhere (as opposed to the YouTube link?)
Ronnie Wright
2020-04-18 13:57:10 +0000 UTCBeen a busy couple of weeks.. but found some time to sit down, relax and jam along.. brilliant! Cracking explanation and tips :) Thank you
Darren
2020-04-18 13:37:13 +0000 UTCAt this point I do not want people to be able to freely download the videos. Maybe at some point I will change my mind, but at the moment that does not make sense for my business. Sorry! Thank you for being here though, I really appreciate your feedback!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-18 06:19:29 +0000 UTCDefinitely watch the Music Theory Monday series starting from the first one.... that should help everything else make sense!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-18 06:18:13 +0000 UTCScott, great content. i am loving it. Glad to be here.
Greybeard
2020-04-18 06:16:55 +0000 UTCAlso if it is possible to download the video to see at a free time as due to prevalent lockdown in India, we get some time now a days in office. But there is no internet there. So if we can download and see there, it will be great help. I dont know how that is possible.
Priyavrat Soni
2020-04-15 18:04:11 +0000 UTC1. Which video of yours should be seen first and so on as it become more organised for me learn. Secondly it seems its very important to mug up the fret board which obviously will take time. Can you suggest some literature as well to read up. I sincerely could not understand 100% of this lecture. Thanks
Priyavrat Soni
2020-04-14 10:59:34 +0000 UTCHI Paul, You have infused a new life in my guitar learning. But I am confused at two fronts:
Priyavrat Soni
2020-04-14 10:56:45 +0000 UTCHi Patrick! I used your question for an upcoming video, but essentially all these questions will be answered if you watch all the Music Theory Monday posts starting with the first one!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-09 17:28:47 +0000 UTCI also attached the note name scratch paper to this post. I'll keep attaching it to videos where I use it!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-09 17:27:48 +0000 UTCThanks!
John
2020-04-08 13:38:20 +0000 UTCHello Paul, about the 'system' representing the Major Key Chords (video CAGED SOLOING • G Shape • I - ii progression - timing 1:26). You list something like: I ii iii IV V vi viidim. Is it something I just have to remember and accept or does it come from some logic or theory I am not familiar with yet ? Why are those minor chords/note/degree (what is the right term here) coming at positions 2,3,6 and 7? I have seen on another document I own the same but for the Minor Chords and it looks like this: i ii III iv v VI VII Again there no idea why it is shaped this way. If you have the opportunity to explain/clarify this at some point it would be nice. Thank you
Patrick Vliegen
2020-04-08 10:09:34 +0000 UTCHello from here: https://www.patreon.com/file?h=35230278&i=5304379
Patrick Vliegen
2020-04-08 10:02:21 +0000 UTCWhere can I download a blank worksheet like you use in the video, to aid in my practice?
John
2020-04-08 04:52:04 +0000 UTCNames of root notes is really important. From there I think its more useful to know the root, third, fifth, seven of a shape than to know what actual note you're playing. Stuff about this is coming up!
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-07 00:56:08 +0000 UTCI'm working on putting them all on a page on my website to keep them organized. I'll keep y'all posted.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-07 00:55:21 +0000 UTCAlso, knowing the shape is good enough for now - you may not yet need to know which note is the root, third, or fifth. we'll get into more detail as we go along.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-07 00:53:09 +0000 UTCIts more important to know if you're playing the root, thirt fifth etc of a chord than to know what actual note it is. I'll try to get more into this as we go along.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-07 00:52:30 +0000 UTCHi! Thank you for your teaching !! I I memorized G shape's (I) and (II) chord positions. But I still don't know exactly what notes I'm pressing when I play solo. Is it important to memorize all notes, not just the position? What are the benefits of memorizing all notes, not just positions?
WonSeob Cho
2020-04-05 16:58:09 +0000 UTCAwesome video. Thanks so much. Question: you mention the utility of knowing the names of the notes you're playing (at least I think you said this). Knowing the scale patterns (and how to locate them based on key) and the locations of the 1, 3, and 5 for each chord within those scales is clearly important, but it seems like knowing the names of the notes is extraneous (at least from a practical standpoint). Is there another benefit that I'm missing?
Brainjo
2020-04-03 21:43:19 +0000 UTCLove your work Scott. With YouTube tuition vids I'm never sure which vid follows on from what. Would you give us a list of the order with which to view them. Thanks you're a great teacher.
Ben Young
2020-04-03 21:23:16 +0000 UTCCool, thanks for the reply! Yeah feel free to use it in a video, definitely interested to learn more about that.
Josh Karnofsky
2020-04-02 22:00:15 +0000 UTCI do see that you acknowledged focusing on chord tones - yes. But there is more to it than that. I'll try to clarify in a further video.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-02 21:57:13 +0000 UTCHi Josh! This is a great question - may I use it in a video? The answer is essentially yes you can think of it as switching to a different pentatonic scale, BUT it would be missing the point that you want to start and end on notes in the chord happening. There isn't a work around for that because the scale contains more notes than the chord does.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-04-02 20:01:10 +0000 UTCThanks for the video Scott, this is definitely what I need to help wrap my head around using the pentatonics with the progression. One question - it looks like the moveable Am chord shape creates the same shape at the C shape pentatonic. Is this essentially jamming over a "I ii" progression by just switching between the G shape and C shape pentatonics in the same position (with an emphasis on the chord tones)? Or should I not be looking at it like that?
Josh Karnofsky
2020-04-02 06:34:18 +0000 UTCThis will help me gt out of the rut of just going through the pentatonic in order, knowin if you start in the A shape you have the C lower and the G higher on the neck. But where i need the practice is what your teaching, Having to Know the notes of the neck, and then being able to apply the formula for the major scale theory. M m m M M m deminished. I had shoulder surgery 5 weeks ago, so i can't play right now, so i am just starting to watch the videos. Thanks for the Lessons.
Larry Howes
2020-04-01 03:56:36 +0000 UTCYay!
Tasha McManus
2020-03-31 01:48:55 +0000 UTCGreat content, and support materials.
Armel Chiza
2020-03-31 00:06:50 +0000 UTCI was happy just noodling, then the theory came.
Armel Chiza
2020-03-31 00:03:44 +0000 UTCOMG! Scott! You're super 👍. How long it's took you to figure those out Scott? I'm appreciate it very much, this is what i need to looking for. I never see anyone else explain the way you do. Very easy to understand and so easy to digest. Hat off to you Sir. Thousands thousands Thanks!!!!
Thao LE
2020-03-30 22:26:11 +0000 UTCYaaaaas! 🙌🙏
George Sarnetsky
2020-03-30 19:30:04 +0000 UTC
