I played guitar for over 50 years. I know I don’t know everything. But I do know some things. And I learned something at the Athens Bluegrass camp that absolutely blew my mind with its simplicity. Ben introduced the G Pentatonic scale initially by only using the DG and B strings. Which means the snippet of scale started on D. ended on D. and the tonic was buried in the middle. So the scale went from D. to D. with the root hiding out in the middle. First of all that gives a scale a really cool sound. You’re not focused on the tonic. You’re actually focused on the fifth a D. And then Ben had us do a solo starting with the first note only using one note - that D string D. And then one by one he added the otherNotes …”now do the solo , using the first two notes - the D note and the E note.” By the time he got done we were very familiar with these notes and moving around with ease. And then Ben took it up the neck into close positions and all of a sudden the neck opened up like crazy. Well today, I tried that same lesson on an intermediate student of mine. And by the end of his 30 minute lesson, he was playing up and down the neck. He knows where the notes are and he’s coming up with some really great lines in his soloing efforts. So - thank you so much Ben Clark. You da man. Your lesson made me money today.
Mr G
Taking what I learned at camp into my teaching studio
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Wow, what great feedback! Thanks brother!
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THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS A GREAT LESSON. MAYBE SHOULD BE A LESSON ON THE WEBSITE SOON? i HOPE!
I introduced this to four beginning guitar students today. Ages 10-12. They jumped right on it. They all thought it was cool.
Loving life in Dallas Ga.
Mr g
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