Exercises Up The Yang-Yang; Jazz Chords; Open Scales

Ever since I did the series on the Five CAGED Scale Shapes three years ago, I’ve wanted to add some exercises to make practicing them fun and rewarding. (Wink.)

Though doing exercises is not always fun, they can be rewarding, as you start to see the benefits. They can help you morph from the sniveling, wimpy excuse of a guitar player you are currently, into an imposing, macho ultra-shredder 😉 …all it takes is time and effort.

But seriously, I only show the exercises that I actually use. They’re both classic and great (at the same time). Most are excellent for both your fretting and picking technique, and can also help develop your ear. Check them out to take your playing to the next level:

4-Notes-At-Time Scale Exercise
Play CAGED Scales in Thirds
Play All 12 Keys With Five Shapes
Play Simple Melodies Using Five Shapes
Five CAGED Chords Exercise

I also made a couple scale lessons for beginners:

Open C Major Scale and All “Named Notes”
Open A Minor Scale—Darker Sound

Last, I did a lesson by request on common jazz chords. (Well, there are a zillion chords used in jazz, so I decided to focus on “extended” chords.)

Jazz Chords: 9th, 11th and 13th

While music theory and exercise lessons are not as popular as those on songs and licks, I think it’s important to include them on my site for people who want to become better musicians and players. And I know some folks have gotten something out of them. As usual, I’ve included graphics to try to make the concepts easy to understand. Let me know how you like ’em! But rest assured, next up will be more lessons on popular songs.

Seeya,

—Dave