This is the basis for a lot of rock music.
The key is knowing the notes on the fifth and sixth strings
all the way up to the twelfth fret.
printable power chords

Here is a famous song by the Ramones.
printable blitzkrieg bop

You can make little bass figures between the chords on this great Bob Marley ballad.
printable no woman no cry

Two ways to play the G major scale.
Use this scale to solo over the Bob Marley song.
printable G Major Scale

Everybody gets the blues and here are yours.
This song 'Key To The Highway' is an 8 bar blues.
That means it's 8 measures long
We will use both open and power chords.
printable Key To The Highway

The minor pentatonic is the most common blues scale.
This scale can be played over many different changes.
It's supposed to sound 'tough'.
Try playing the A minor Pentatonic scale up and down, then try the solo ideas.
printable A minor Pentatonic Scale

printable Solo Ideas for Key to The Highway

Anyone who knows the Allman Brothers band will recognize this scale. It has a kind of fun party sound.

We will use this variation on the 12 bar blues to
explore something called the 'relative minor'.

Just because you can play power chords now
is no reason to neglect open chords.
this song is a good chord workout and
an interesting chord progression.

This song is by the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhart.
We will use it to work on the minor scale.