Major Lead 07 - How To Improvise In Any Key

How to improvise in any key. Now I'm just adding this lesson quite late on um in this course just to double check that we're OK with the idea of moving scale positions around. If this is a really easy concept and all you really need to know is the letter names of the notes on the thickest Estring, on string 6. Now if we have a lesson on this, um, at I believe it's level 5 of my beginner's course. And the links to that lesson will be at the top of the description and on the write-up for for this page, um, on my website. But, um, to have a kind of a recap, the thickest Estring starts from the open E and goes F, F, G, etc. etc. And we've learned everything so far, uh, the exercises, the techniques that we've covered using the C major scale, position one, starting from 8th fret. Now all we need to do is know that that start note, that 8th fret, is a C note, and we start this one with our middle finger, but it doesn't really matter what scale you're using or or um or what position you're gonna be using, cause the only thing that really matters is that your first note is on string 6. If you know that start note is on string 6, you just need to move that start note to whatever key uh you are wanting to play in. So for example, backing tracks 3 and 4 from this course, which are totally for free on the website, I really recommend that you click through to the website and check out these backing tracks so that you can practise all of these uh lead guitar skills and how to improvise that we're looking at. Uh, we'd move that down to 3rd fret, which is that G note that we just went to, so E, F, F, and then G. Third fret. And there is our major scale, it still sounds like the major scale, this is so important, sounds the same, but our start note is G. Every note that we're actually playing, the letter name has changed every time that we move position. But the way that it sounds, the way that it feels, the way that it plays should be very similar and that's what we'll be looking at more in depth. Now let's get straight in for a close-up to show you exactly what is happening here. So I've added this lesson just to make sure that all you guys are really confident changing key, which is what I want you to do when you play onto the backing tracks in this course, which are available for free from the website. Links in the description below, there will be a description of exactly how to get these free backing tracks that I've made for you guys. Um, the first couple are in the key of C. Uh, the first couple are in the key of C. So they're using the chords C, F, G, A minor. If you're still unaware of that guitar, keys kind of idea, there's lessons in my beginner's course which I will link to um to sort of explain that. And if you have a song that's in the key of C, as hopefully you all know by now, we would be using the C major scale. At um starting from 8th frets, we could also use, as we're gonna look at in the next lesson, the C major pentatonic. All that kind of idea cause it's C major. Anything with C major in it will totally work. But what if we can change to the key of G? Now in the key of G, we'll be using the G major scale as our foundation and the basis of this. So the G major scale, you don't actually have to know all the notes to it cos there are those common chords if you just learned a lot of songs um in the key of G, so we'll have G. and Dean. And we'll also have E minor, A minor, those kind of chords, and we would just change. From this scale shape from 8th fret, we just move it down to 3rd fret, because that 3rd fret is a G note. And therefore. To solo in the key of G, you just have to be able to play that scale shape and know that it starts down at 3rd fret, and any of the patterns that you know. I played down here. To have an inkling that, well, all the backing tracks that I've done, I tell you which key they're in, and any other good backing track should tell you if it's G, uh, you know, for minor pentatonic or G major, which is what we're focusing on, on these lessons. Um, but a great rule of thumb is this idea of first chord, last chord, most common chord. If I have a song that's in the key of G. And it follows all the traditions of what a song in the key of G would do if it's simple and and uses major chords generally. It will start on a G chord, it'll have other chords in it, including C, D and E minor, and then it will finish on the G chord when the song is finished. None of those things have to be the case for it to be in the key of G. That is just uh modus operandi, that's just tends to be what happens in those kind of simple songs that I want you guys improvising over to begin with. Um, but there's nothing to stop us suddenly, you know, learning a song that happens to be in the key of G. When you know this scale shape, you just have to know that you're in advance, that your song is in the key of, for example, G. You have to find that note on the fretboard on on the thickest string of the fretboard, so string 6, that would be fret 4, that's our G. and then you would use the major scale from there to start your improvisation. OK, to play your melodies with or your um barcode shapes to be able to play, use the improvisation um arpeggio idea. OK, that kind of idea. And um the common keys just to um give you guys the first ones that I would recommend and I would be encouraging you to play along to if we were in private lessons 1 to 1, would be Key of C definitely. The key of G And in this order as well, the key of D after that. Which would be like And then uh the key of A. And finally, the key of E. The reason to go in that order is because C major has no sharps in it at all. Uh, G has 1, D has 2, A has 3, and E has 4 sharps. Now when you're playing, for example, the A major scale. And you're higher up the fretboard and um you're not playing any open strings, it doesn't matter physically, whether it's got any sharps or flats in it at all. It's, it's of no concern, it's not any harder, it's not any easier, it's, it's no concern at all, so long it's, it's just using the same stuff that we didn't see down here. The harder bit comes when you're keeping on top of what chord you're actually playing over, because if we're playing in the key of uh A for example. You will have in the key of A. A major, D major, and E major, but you may also have an F minor, a B minor, a C minor. They're the other diatonic chords, the chords from the key in the key of A. And you may not be able to find those chords as quickly as you could, for example, all the chords in the key of C or G. That is the reason, so that you're aware of what you're playing over. That is the reason why I would go through them in that order. And here's the thing. When you change key, it doesn't necessarily sound any different because everything you play using the major scale or playing chords in a key, everything sounds the same proportionate to the one chord. And this is what I'll be looking at more in my proper music theory. Course when I um film a full course of this next year, there's a sort of free taster that I did from my live stream in the music theory theory area of my, my website, there'll be a link to that on, on this webpage if you click through to, if you're watching this on the website. But um that is really. We'll be digging into that uh a lot more, but it's at this level we're just trying to get used to soloing over any song or backing track which is in a major key. That's the purpose of this course and to do that we're just gonna look at this final lesson now on the major pentatonic scale.