Friday 15 April 2011

Rock Guitar Lesson - Must Know Chords & Scales

By Nick Dillon


This rock guitar lesson will explain the most commonly used chords and scales that are used in rock. Rock music takes its roots in blues; so many of the components of rock will also be common to blues.

With rock music there are common chords that are used, the most common being the 5 chord or power chord, the major and minor chords. In rock guitar the most common scales used for soloing are the minor pentatonic, major pentatonic and blues scales.

The 5 chord or power chord is simply the root and the perfect fifth and can be played just using these two notes. This chord is used extensively in hard rock, rock, punk and metal. The chord is commonly played with the root on the low E string or on the A string, but a 5 chord can also be played less commonly over the higher strings as well. As most chords are constructed using a root and fifth, it is important to know how to use power chords as they are a stepping stone to learning more complex ones.

Rock guitar uses the minor and major chords, in the form of triads, extensively. If we take a 5 chord and add a flat 3rd, we create a minor chord. By adding a major 3rd we create a major chord. It is common in rock guitar to use these chords in the open position on the fretboard, but they can be played on any part of the fretboard with a little practice.

In rock, the most commonly scale used for soloing is the minor pentatonic scale. It is the "bread and butter" scale of rock. This scale is extremely versatile and should be the first scale learned when studying rock guitar. The blues scale is also very useful, and is created by simply adding a flat five to the minor pentatonic.

The major scale and the major pentatonic scale are commonly used in rock guitar. These scales will give a brighter sound to that of the minor pentatonic, and tend to be favoured by more upbeat or even country players. These scales can be applied to many different types of rock music from country to heavy rock to pop.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this rock guitar lesson, it should give you a clear understanding of what you need to learn to play rock music. Keep practicing, and best of luck with the guitar.




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