All Shapes

The Chords

The first part of our mission is to lay out the chords in one part of the neck. You can, in theory, choose absolutely anywhere for this, and eventually, you’ll be able to do it all over the neck, but for now, we will choose one position. That position will be based around the 5th fret. We are using the same chord progression, as shown here:

Therefore, our positions, all in this part of the neck, will be as follows. Our first task is simply to get these positions learnt and in our heads.

Layering!

Let’s now take it one stage further and layer all of those chords and scales together! We’ll do the same as we have done so far, which is to take the chords and now add the layers on top of them. We’ve drawn up the Arpeggio for each of the CAGED chords, which will give you the base of your layering. From there, it is your job to now add the correct pentatonic and the correct full scale. Good luck!

Playing Melodically

Now we’ll really take this up a notch and see how melodically you can play over this progression. The key things to note are once again pointed out in the Top Tips section. The more subtle you can make those transitions the better! Good luck, and enjoy the process!

Test!!

Let’s have a bit of fun in this lesson, and test me! Dan's on camera with Ollie throwing chords at him left right and centre. This is full-blown on-camera testing, mistakes and all. This is a really fun challenge for you to try with random backing tracks or a friend if you have a guitar buddy. Enjoy!