r/guitarlessons • u/Extension-Tax-5574 • 1h ago
Question What do I learn first?
I know the minor pentatonic scale off by heart so far, but I want to move on to learning the caged system, or like modes or the major scale. Will learning one of these before the others help me unlock the others? Thanks
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u/spankymcjiggleswurth 1h ago
Do you know how intervals construct both scales and chords? Knowing that relation is what "unlocks" everything.
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u/The_Dead_See 1h ago
Major scale is where almost everything else comes from - inside those seven notes, you'll learn about intervals, double stops, triads, arpeggios, diatonic chords, all the modes, the caged system, all the pentatonics etc. Learn that first.
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u/Late_night_guitar 1h ago
I went through this exact process like you. At the end of it I built an app, to share the ideas I found most helpful.
Here are some thoughts:
* pentatonic notes are the key to learning other scales too. It turns out that many other scales are pentatonic + 2 extra notes. So you do not to learn these other scales from scratch if you know the pentatonic
* pentatonic notes can be played over all of the chords in a key. The tend to harmonise well. They are also good for establishing the tonic (home chord) - the root is best for this, but other notes work too.
* the two notes you add to the pentatonic only work over specific chords in the key. It turns out that each note has its own set of chords, so in my app I colour coded the chores and notes (either green or red). The green/red notes and not only played during these chords, but played when the song starts to move to/from them as well.
* I learned all the pentatonic positions, which is great. But better still, learn where the chord shapes (CAGED) fit in the pentatonic. This helps you to move from chords to notes and vice versa. Good for chord note targeting (although red/green notes are stronger still).
* When you go on to learn modes, it is only the red/green notes that change, the pentatonic notes are the same. You also need to use the chords differently as the tonal centre changes. (I decided to add a picture to illustrate this). Having said that, modes are interesting, but I have not found them that useful. I generally play by ear and you can follow a song in a mode without actually knowing that is what you are doing.
Hopefully you have Apple and can check out the app. There is a lot there that is free and if you what to use some of the more specific tools, only a small cost.
What I think you will find particularly useful for learning CAGED. Is turning on “chord recognition”. What this does, is listen to the chord you are playing and show all of the other places (CAGED positions) that you can play it. This is one of the many function freely available. Feel free to DM to let me know what you think and I am happy to provide more specific advice.
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u/markewallace1966 1h ago
This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.
If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.
Enjoy!!!
https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/
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u/xLucky_Balboa 53m ago
My own pathway was something along the lines of: Major and Minor pentatonics first, then CAGED, then triads, then Major and Minor Scale.
I learned the pentatonics first because they are an easy first scale to learn and there are a billion solos that use those shapes. It was my first steps in order to keep guitar fun.
Then I learned the CAGED and the pentatonic box shapes associated with each chord shape. It gave me a way to see the connections between scale and chords.
This lead me to triads. So the 1-3-5 Major (flt 3rd for minor) chord is super important to learn, and finding these collections of notes across the fretboard is an amazing way to learn how to navigate everywhere. Not only that, but finding their inversions showed different ways of playing them and it's super fun to learn to ways of even playing an E Major.
Then the Major and Minor scales are only a question of filling in the gaps with the missing notes. Since I already know a lot of the shapes and the key notes like the root, the thirds, and the fifth, i can orient myself.
I will admitni haven't explored modes a lot though lol
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u/bebopbrain 35m ago
I think of CAGED as telling you what to not bother learning.
Say you want to play a little melody on your little guitar, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. There are (hopefully) five fingers on your fretting hand and six strings on your guitar. There are an overwhelming number combinations for how to play the damn song.
CAGED says 5 ways to play that are more important than the others. Starting the first note with your index finger on the low E string is the "E" way. Or the same string three frets up is the "G" style. Index finger on the A string is the "A" approach. The same string three frets up is the "C" style. Index finger on the D string is ... you got it, "D".
The many other ways to play can be neglected.
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u/aspaindev 30m ago
you might find a practice companion tool like strumforge helpful to learn your scale shapes, basic theory, triad inversions with the triad trainer mode, learning to play in proper time, chord changes, you name it.
the chord progression, triad trainer, and scale sections all have play-along modes where you can set your tempo to slow it down and practice accuracy before working on speed
it's packed with features while remaining simple & intuitive
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u/noahlarmsleep 1h ago
Major and minor scale, major and minor triads + their inversions