Rock Improvisation Level One

Welcome to the world of rock guitar improvisation! I hope this in-depth course will give
you all the tools you need in order to master the art of improvisation no matter what
style of rock music you like to play.

Let me give you a brief overview of how this course is structured and why I feel it is the
most thorough rock guitar improvisation course of it's kind.

In the first few levels of the course, I will be focused on teaching you all of the essential
materials (ie. Scales, Arpeggios, etc.) in a way that will be far less confusing and more
usable than anything you may have studied before.

We begin this Level One of rock guitar improvisation by learning some essential theory.
This theory study will be used throughout all of the levels so it is essential that you learn
it very well. If you ever have any questions or are at all confused by the theory taught in
this PDF, please don't hesitate to contact me at carl@[Link] . I will try
and help you understand whatever may be holding you up.

The theory study that opens the course is designed to get your knowledge of how to spell
any major scale to a very high level. After that is accomplished, we can then relate all
minor scales and modes to this major scale knowledge and easily apply it across the
fretboard.

Also remember, this theory system is just a METHOD. Eventually you won't need it
because you will simply know the notes of every major key without having to think
about it. This system is just a quick way of getting you to that point.

As you follow along with the video lessons, I will be continually demonstrating how to
apply this theory knowledge in a real world situation on the guitar. You will very
quickly realize that every key is basically the same and visualizing them across the
fretboard will become effortless in much less time than you have ever imagined.

I say this with confidence since I have seen it happen many times with my private
students. It seems to be an impossible task for many guitar players, that is playing across
the entire fretboard in any key they want. In fact, many popular guitar players don't have
this ability. But, if you look at it in the right way and try not to make it harder than it
really is, you will get to that level of fretboard and musical knowledge very quickly.

I don't want you to think that this will not require work, because it will. But with daily
effort focusing on the right way of thinking about and using this knowledge, I feel that
anyone can master the fretboard.
After the opening levels, which focus on the theory and visualization aspects of the
guitar, we will then focus on applying all of this material using various improvisation
concepts. These concepts found in the higher levels of this course will teach you how to
make real music with all of the essential scales, arpeggios and theory you learned in the
earlier levels.

This part of the course is designed to show you how the art of improvisation isn't some
mysterious art that only a few guitar players are gifted enough to do.

For every player, improvisation is mostly a combination of previously learned musical

The key is to listen to yourself and not get locked into the patterns you have learned. I
will demonstrate many different methods to help you break out of any stale unmusical
improvisations you may feel you are constantly doing and into a world of inspiration and
creatively.

But before that, we have some work to do!

I suggest starting this course by reading the “Understanding Major Keys Quickly and
Easily” section that opens this PDF, then begin watching the video lessons.

As the video lessons progress, I will let you know when you should check out the PDF
for any new information. All of the info will be presented in the same order as it appears
in the video lessons.

Good Luck! Once again, feel free to contact me at carl@[Link] if you

Carl Brown
Los Angeles, CA
 Understanding Major Keys Quickly And Easily
Understanding of keys is a skill that a major majority of musicians lack. Whether bad teaching methods or just
plain laziness is to blame, far too many guitarist's struggle with this easily developed skill. It really is the method that you
choose to learn your essential music theory concepts that can either develop total confusion or complete understanding.

I am going to show you a quick method of memorizing your major keys which will be the foundation of all of our
scale and chord studies here at [Link]. After using this method for a very short while, you will be able
to fully understand and spell every major key. Why am I only doing major keys? You will see why as soon as you start the
scale studies on the site for either pentatonics, full 3-note per string major scales or modes.

Before you start ANY scale studies on [Link], you MUST complete this lesson to fully
understand the method. If we put them together we have not just a bunch of scale forms, but full knowledge on how to apply
all scales across the neck in every key. It really only takes a few simple concepts and some practice to be able to see all
scales easily across the neck.

So now that I have your attention.. LETS GET STARTED!!!!

The first thing you need to do is just memorize this order of letters: B E A D G C F
After you have finished that, try to say them in reverse as well like this: F C G D A E B
(By the way, memorizing these 7 letters is the only simi-difficult part of this system,
it just gets easier from here!!)

Now, why am I having you memorize these seemingly random letters? Well they form what is know as the “Order
of Flats” and the “Order of Sharps”. When you start the letter sequence with B E A etc..., you are actually saying the Order
of Flats. When you start the letter sequence in reverse ie.. F C G etc..., you are saying the Order of Sharps.

So how do we use these letter combinations to figure out an entire key? Well, the first thing we need to learn is that
there are 2 different types of keys, and I am not referring to Major or Minor. The 2 different types of keys are keys with
“Sharps” and keys with “Flats”.

No major scales that stay completely within the key will have both Sharps and Flats in them. That doesn't mean
that a piece of music written in a sharp key will never have a flat in it, but instead, that flat would be considered chromatic
or out of the key. But we don't have to worry about any of that when we are just learning keys.

Sharps and Flats are used to alter the tones found in a scales. You see, there are only 7 notes in the entire musical
alphabet. A B C D E F G, thats it. So the first thing we need to realize is that EVERY major scale uses one of those letters.
Yes, that means every major scale in music uses the same 7 letters, so in order to change the key we have to ALTER some of
the letters. That is where Sharps and Flats come in.

A Sharp raises a notes pitch by ½ step, which is one fret on the guitar. Sharps look like this (#).
A Flat lowers a notes pitch by ½ step. Flats look like this (b).

So if we can understand that all keys use these letters just altered in different ways you can see it as a little musical
merry-go-round. If the key we wanted was an A key we would simply start on A and go through the 7 letters from there like
this: A B C D E F G. However, if we want a D key we will have to start our scale on D like this: D E F G A B C.

It is very important when you are trying to figure out the notes in a key, that you start on the letter name of the key
then go around the musical alphabet from there until you have used all 7 letters. After that, all you have to do is alter some
of them and you have your full major scale. The reason we are doing major scales is that they give you all the 7 notes used
in a particular key spelled one after the other.

So we will work with “Sharp Keys” then “Flat Keys”. But first, you need to be able to know if a key is a sharp key
or flat key before you can try and figure it out. Simply put ALL FLAT KEYS HAVE A FLAT IN THEIR NAME
EXCEPT FOR THE KEY OF F MAJOR. But it is still quite easy to remember that F is a flat key by remembering that F
is the first letter in the word Flat. ALL OTHER KEYS ARE SHARPS KEYS!! There is one however that has NO Sharps
or Flats, and that is the key of C Major spelled: C D E F G A B, it is the only key where there isn't at least one Sharp or Flat.
 COMPLETE LIST OF MAJOR KEYS
C Major: No Sharps or Flats F Major: Bb
G Major: F# Bb Major: Bb Eb
D Major: F# C# Eb Major: Bb Eb Ab
A Major: F# C# G# Ab Major: Bb Eb Ab Db
E Major: F# C# G# D# Db Major: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
B Major: F# C# G# D# A# Gb Major: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb
F# Major: F# C# G# D# A# E# Cb Major: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb
C# Major: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

Now we will learn how to put all of that information in our brains where we can actually put it to good use.

SHARP KEYS

After memorizing your “Order of Sharps” from earlier F# C# G# D# A# E# B#, you are ready to go. Just follow
these few steps and you will be able to figure out all sharps keys very quickly.

• When you are trying to figure out a sharp key, you first need to take the keys name say D, then go one letter back
in the alphabet to C and call it C#. That is it. So for the key of B you would get an A#, or the key of G you would
get an F# or the key of A you would get an G# and so on.
• Now the next step is to go through your order of sharps until you find the sharp that you figured out from the first
step. So for the key of D you would say F# C# then stop. Or for the key of E you would say F# C# G# D# and
stop. What you have just figured out are the exact notes that you are going to alter in the scale (see next step).
• The final step in figuring out any major sharp key is to first start on your “Keynote” or Root Note or whatever you
want to call it. So for the key of D Major your Keynote is D, and for the key of G Major you Keynote is G. So
using the key of D we would start out spelling the scale tones first like this D E F G A B C, then you can apply the
sharps for the key of D that we figured out in step 2 which were F# and C#. So the complete D Major Scale would
be D E F# G A B C#. Now how easy was that.

As you can see from the complete list of keys at the top. When you figure out the sharp from step one, you are actually
finding your stopping point in the Order of Sharps. If you look you will see that the order never changes and you can't have
a C# in a key without and F# as well because F# always comes before it. Just like you can't have a D# in a key without F#
C# and G#. So from here you should be able to figure out Sharp keys, so on to the flats, which are even easier.

FLAT KEYS
Now we reverse the “Order of Sharps” to get the “Order of Flats” Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb. There are only 2 steps
to know for the flat keys, so lets get to it.

• First, after you know the name of the key you want, you simply go through the Order of Flats until you find that
letter THEN GO ONE LETTER PAST IT IN THE ORDER OF FLATS!! For instance, if you want the key of
Eb you simply go through the Order of Flats till you find Eb then keep going one more like this: Bb Eb Ab, or for
the key of Db you would get Bb Eb Ab Db Gb. Its that simple. Now you know all the flats to use when altering
the notes of the scales.
• The final step is the same as the final step for the sharp keys. Simply lay out your scale from the Keynote, then
alter the notes using the flats that you figured out for that key from step one. So the key of Eb would be: Eb F G
Ab Bb C D. Thats it!!

One little key that doesn't fit into this system is F Major. You simply have to memorize that it has one flat. And if
there is only one flat it has to be..... Yes.. Bb, since that is always the first flat.

Well I hope you get something out of this little tutorial, be sure to email me any question or post comments, and
study this stuff quickly so when can start PLAYING IT ON THE GUITAR!!

©2009 [Link]
 All Relative Major & Minor Keys

C major – A minor
G major – E minor
D major – B minor
A major – F# minor
E major – C# minor
B major – G# minor
F# major – D# minor
C# major – A# minor
F major – D minor
Bb major – G minor
Eb major – C minor
Ab major – F minor
Db major – Bb minor
Gb major – Eb minor
Cb major – Ab minor

All major keys are listed on the left with their corresponding relative minor keys to the
right. Every relative key shares the exact same notes.

In other words, if you want to play A minor scales all you have to do is visualize your C
major scale forms across the fretboard since they both contain the same notes. Or if you
want to play in E minor you simply visualize G major across the fretboard.

©2014 [Link]
 [Link]

Major Pentatonic Scale Forms

2 4
1 3
2 4
1 4
1 3
1 4
1 4
2 4
1 4
2 4
2 4
2 4


2 4 2 4

 
2 4 2 5
1 3 1 4
1 4 2 4
1 4 2 4
2 4 2 4

Shape Built From The Root Shape Built From The 2nd

1 4 2 4

2 4 2 4
1 3 1 4

1 3 1 4

1 4 2 4

1 4 2 4


1 4 2 4

 
2 4 2 4
1 3 1 4
1 3 1 4
1 4 2 4
1 4 2 4

Shape Built From The 3rd Shape Built From The 5th

1 4
1 4
1 3
1 3
1 3
1 4


1 4


1 4
1 3
1 3
1 3
1 4

Shape Built From The 6th

©2009 [Link]