When you want to play larger intervals in your riffs, there are a couple of ways to do it. First you can pick intervals at random and create your own interesting lines, or second, you can choose to play lines based on chord shapes or arpeggios to accomplish this. By outlining chords you can really boost the melodic value of your solos! You can hear this second style of bigger interval skips while listening to guys like Eric Johnson, Jimmy Herring and more. The nice thing about working out some of these shapes is that you can re-use them over different chords to create different tonal combinations.

>> Download some new shapes ...

So, what's the secret to playing over changes? Knowledge of scales? No. Modes? Try again. Command of arpeggios? Sorry, but that's not the answer, either. While it surely doesn't hurt to know all of the above, most aspiring players fail miserably by relying on studying the "alphabet" as opposed to learning real-world, core blues and jazz language.

Need proof? Look no further than Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, George Benson, and many other jazz guitar legends to realize that they could speak the essential language without any benefit of classroom theory. However, they knew what sounded great, based on many years spent imitating and absorbing the work of their influences, including numerous non-guitarists. With regards to jazz or any blend of that genre with another, the most critical element to master is the II-V progression, Dm7 to G7 in the key of C. You'll never be a competent changes player without this knowledge. This month's lesson focuses on a pair of great II-V moves, courtesy of jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson, but translated to guitar ala Wes.

>> Download Oscar to Wes ...

Let’s have a look at Ragtime Blues Guitar - great players to listen to for this style are: Blind Blake, Reverend Gary Davis and Big Bill Broonzy. The first thing to note about Ragtime Guitar is that it's usually played in the key of C and that it often uses a more complex chord structure than regular blues which tends to stick to the 1,4,5 progression (Tonic, Sub-Dominant and Dominant). A Ragtime piece will often use the third and sixth degrees of the scale to create its chord progression. It gives the tune a more expansive feel and a totally different character to standard blues. "The Guitar Shuffle" is based on an old Big Bill Broonzy tune. It uses a constant, dampened bass rather than the more usual alternating bass technique associated with Ragtime guitar. Watch out for Part 2 next month...

>> Download Big Bill's Ragtime Shuffle...

7th in an 8-part series

Here is the last of the 6 essential major scales, the 5-4. This gives us 6 major scales, each with 7 arpeggios. You now have in your fingers a very powerful set of tools for making some serious music!

Here is the last of the 6 essential major scales, the 5-4. This gives us 6 major scales, each with 7 arpeggios. For the mathematically inclined among you, that should come out to be 42 arpeggios, but, like many things in life, it just doesn’t add up the way it’s supposed to! No, there aren’t 42 arpeggios because, thankfully, many of them are repeats, as I hope you realize by now! So, for instance, the Major 7th arpeggio that serves as the I of the 6-1 scale also serves as the IV of the 5-2 scale, and the Minor 7th that is II of a 6-4 scale, is III of a 6-2 scale. That means that you will find your fingers falling into place more easily as you go.

>> Download 5/4 Major Scale and Arpeggios ...

by Lenny Breau

The late Lenny Breau was a true original, a guitarist's guitarist. This classic column was resurrected from 1981, and gives key insight into Breau's breathtaking use of harmonics. First, dig how to do it with an ascending/descending arpeggio; then get into some of Breau's favorite voicings. You gotta lift a little from Lenny, so here's a good start.

>> Download the pick of the month ...

A tour can be as long as six months or as short as a weekend. When you are preparing to hit the road, there are certain things you need to bring with you as you'll want your gear, especially your guitars and amps, to be in tip-top working condition.

You should re-tube your amps. You don’t want the amps to start sounding dull while while on tour. You will be putting lots of wear and tear on them while you are out... (continued)

Erik Halbig, friend of TrueFire and superb guitar sideman currently touring with Sara Evans, will be bringing you some stories from the road designed to entertain and educate those ready and crazy enough to hit the road themselves. Erik would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have for him.

Check our man out at: www.ErikHalbig.com

>> Continue reading Erik's story from the road ...