Saturday, February 19, 2011

Rock Guitar Lesson - Chords & Scales You Need To Know

By Nick Dillon


This rock guitar lesson will explain the commonly used scales and chords that are used in rock music. Rock music essentially grew out of blues; so much of the components of rock will also be common to blues music.

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 powere chord or 5 chord is simply the root and the perfect fifth. It can be played just using these two notes or adding the root up an octave using three strings. This chord is used primarily in rock, hard rock, metal and punk music. The chord is commonly played with the root on the low E string or on the A string. Because most chords are constructed using a root and fifth, it is important to learn the power chords. They provide an easy stepping stone to learning most other chords on the guitar.

Rock guitar commonly relies on the major and minor chords, in the form of triads. If we take a 5 chord and and add a minor third to it, we create a minor chord. If we add a major third, we create a major chord. It is common to play these chords in the open position on the fretboard, but they can be played on any part of the fretboard.

In rock, the most common scale used for guitar soloing is the minor pentatonic. This scale can be called the "bread and butter" scale of rock. It is best to learn this scale first, as it will be the most versatile scale in your soloing arsenal. The blues scale is also very common in rock music, and is created by simply adding a flat five to the minor pentatonic.

The major pentatonic scale and the major 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 country players. These scales can be applied to many different styles of rock music from heavy rock to country 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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