Video Lesson on the CAGED System 11-3-07

[Mark Wein]

Hey guys!

 

It seemed like enough people were interested in doing some basic fretboard theory and learning the CAGED system, so that is what this weeks lesson is about...I'll be skipping next week because I'll be out of town (eating myself silly in New York) but when I come back we will explre this a little further!

 

http://blog.markwein.com

[Mark Wein]

bump for Monday morning...

[Machine Gun]

Great stuff Mark! You're such a thorough teacher. I bet your students move along pretty quickly.

[Mark Wein]

Great stuff Mark! You're such a thorough teacher. I bet your students move along pretty quickly.

 

Thanks! The students do well if they practice...

 

Sometimes you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him play a major scale...

[blumonk]

Nice Suhr guitar. I see you follow the trends of Govan, Henderson and Howe.

I got a few minutes into the video and I got bored and I think that you're students would probably get bored also.

I would try this approach:

Using the CAGED method get your students to learn 1 major scale 5 different places on the neck. G major is typically the one every does first because it lays out on the guitar. Show the chord shapes then show how the G major scales fit over the shapes. Then give them a chord progression in G and tell them to just go and improvise using any of the notes found in the 5 positions you went over. Once they have the major scale down you can move to different modes, arpeggios etc. I think the major scale is the building block for everything so you should start by getting your students to be able to play ALL major scales 5 different places on the neck. What do you think? I am also not a fan of starting out with pentatonics, even though they are probably easy, but people typically learn them and then never learn anything else and then that is all they play. I would rather have my student learn the major scale first then be able to see the pentatonics inside the major scale later.

[Jed]

I think the major scale is the building block for everything so you should start by getting your students to be able to play ALL major scales 5 different places on the neck. What do you think? I am also not a fan of starting out with pentatonics, even though they are probably easy, but people typically learn them and then never learn anything else and then that is all they play. I would rather have my student learn the major scale first then be able to see the pentatonics inside the major scale later.

 

Who are you and what have you done to our blumonk ??

 

I could not agree more with your words above. There is so much un-mined potential in the major scales in all 12 keys that it saddens me to think that so many people blow-off building that foundation.

 

cheers,

 

Edit: On the other hand in the real (commercial) world of guitar isntruction, teachers have to adapt to the people that come to them for lessons. To that end I can see how some students would never get past learning the major scale over the whole fretboard in all 12 keys if instructors didn't "throw them a bone" and a chance for some fun with pentatonics now and then. I don't envy those who teach, it's a tough juggling act between what the student should learn and what the student wants to / will practice.

[blumonk]

Who are you and what have you done to our blumonk ?? I could not agree more with your words above. There is so much un-mined potential in the major scales in all 12 keys that it saddens me to think that so many people blow-off building that foundation. cheers, Edit: On the other hand in the real (commercial) world of guitar isntruction, teachers have to adapt to the people that come to them for lessons. To that end I can see how some students would never get past learning the major scale over the whole fretboard in all 12 keys if instructors didn't "throw them a bone" and a chance for some fun with pentatonics now and then. I don't envy those who teach, it's a tough juggling act between what the student should learn and what the student wants to / will practice.

What you can do is setup a jam in G. Have a few chords and the teacher and student can go back and forth playing chords and improvising using the G major scale all over the neck. Then the teacher can say "ok play A min pentatonic now" and it will also work. I just hate to hear people play pentatonic pentatonic because that's all they ever got around to learning. Once the major scale is the foundation and the student really really knows it. Get them to do it with their eyes closed.

[Mark Wein]

Nice Suhr guitar. I see you follow the trends of Govan, Henderson and Howe. I got a few minutes into the video and I got bored and I think that you're students would probably get bored also. I would try this approach: Using the CAGED method get your students to learn 1 major scale 5 different places on the neck. G major is typically the one every does first because it lays out on the guitar. Show the chord shapes then show how the G major scales fit over the shapes. Then give them a chord progression in G and tell them to just go and improvise using any of the notes found in the 5 positions you went over. Once they have the major scale down you can move to different modes, arpeggios etc. I think the major scale is the building block for everything so you should start by getting your students to be able to play ALL major scales 5 different places on the neck. What do you think? I am also not a fan of starting out with pentatonics, even though they are probably easy, but people typically learn them and then never learn anything else and then that is all they play. I would rather have my student learn the major scale first then be able to see the pentatonics inside the major scale later.

 

Thanks! I love my Suhr...about the lessons, I have a difference of opinion, though..

 

I started with the Pentatonic stuff in the beginning just to get rolling with something that could be quickly useful by the average entry level player, and just worked my way through that for the time being. The first few video lessons were really just me seeing if this was something I could actually do and be worthwhile at...since that was where I started, that was the track I took until now. This CAGED lesson was the start of a bunch of new stuff...

 

With my private students I have noticed that if I break things up into smaller bites they tend to get the bigger picture quicker. I understand what you guys are saying, but I have a couple of reasons for doing things the way that I am doing them..

 

1. There is quite a bit of stuff online already that works that way...with the private students that I teach in person it seems that much of it goes too quickly or covers more ground that these guys can really take in at one sitting. This might not be everyone out there but I think that (based on the feedback that I've been getting) I have an audience of players who like the pace that I am going at.

 

2. I do a weekly video lesson. Most of my lesson "series" end up taking a month or so to get through the material....this lesson that we are talking about is just getting people to see where the CAGED root system comes from...not to give them a ton of scale fingerings and tell them to go and jam....It is my intent to start teaching them to build their theory around the root patterns, so that they can take and play an idea anywhere on the guitar neck without it just being a physical pattern...for instance, if they have a melodic idea in a major scale, then they can alter the same melody to make it work in another mode quickly and easily because they will know what scale degrees the phrase is made of and what notes they can alter to make it fit into another mode or key...I referenced the pentatonic stuff because there are already at least 8 lessons that I use this system in, and if they have done any of those lessons then they have a starting point to work with.

 

 

3. The pace in the lessons is what it is because many people watch the video only on Youtube and do not go to my blog to download or read the sheetmusic...I get close to 300 hits a day just on Youtube and maybe just a 3rd of that on my blog....I just want to make sure that things are as clear as I can make them even without the notation....

 

 

I do appreciate the criticism (because I do ask what you guys think of the lessons pretty much every week), but I get the feeling that both of you are much better educated musically than the majority of the people who watch my videos. I have a studio where I teach 50-60 students a week and most of them are adult "hobbyist" type guitarists, so my teaching style has kind of developed over the years to accomodate the kinds of problems and difficulties that those kinds of players have. I really don't teach many college and pro level players, so my lessons really aren't geared towards them...