This Top Secret Codex belongs to - Australian Guitar Academy

© Copyright 2016 Australian Guitar Academy

This Top Secret Codex belongs to _______________.

Keep it in your practice folder. Bring it to training with you. It contains:

1. Runnin’ Scales

2. Orange Rockin’ Riffs 3. Open Chords

4. Sixteenth Note Rhythms 5. Orange Repertoire

6. Am Improvisation 7. Orange Warm Down


1. Runnin’ Scales

Exercise 1: Am Pentatonic Scale

Exercise 2: With Legato

Exercise 4: With Legato

Exercise 3: Stacked 3s


2. Orange Rockin’ Riffs

Enter Sandman Crazy Train

Pretty Woman Under Pressure

Come As You Are Joker and the Thief

Here Comes Your Man Sweet Child O’ Mine

Devil Inside Just a Girl

I Could Have Lied

Play That Funky Music


In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida The Fly

Superstition Livin’ On a Prayer

Day Tripper Message In a Bottle

She Sells Sanctuary

Smooth Criminal

La Bamba


3. Open Chords


4. Sixteenth Note Rhythms Now that we have explored quarter notes and eighth notes and we have introduced the idea of tied

notes, the next step is to take a look at sixteenth notes:

Sixteenth Notes

Remember that the quarter note or and the eighth note or were both made up of a

solid ball (or foot) and a stem. The sixteenth note is also made up of a ball and a stem.

Where the eighth note had a tail, the sixteenth note has two tails and if two or more of them

share a beat, or part of a beat, then they will have their tails joined together:

Again, they may be seen simply with feet, instead of balls:

While they are technically called semiquavers, we will call them sixteenth notes because it takes

sixteen of them to fill a four-four bar. We can think of this as four notes (or counts) per beat.

Previously, we have used the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 to count out the beats, as well as the & symbol to

represent the offbeat, or upstroke. Now we need names for the extra pieces of rhythm, so we add

an “e” and an “a”.

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

It is important to play the accent (the hardest strum) on the beat. So we will have an accented beat,

followed by three evenly timed less accented strums. Notice also, that as we follow rule two of

rhythm strumming (Hand keeps bouncing), it is the “e” and the “a” that now receive the upstrokes,

while our downstrokes are falling on the beat and the &.

With this in mind, we can start mixing together different combinations of eighth notes and sixteenth

notes:

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

In this pattern, as our hand constantly bounces to the rhythmic feel, we miss the up strum on the

“e” of every beat. Don’t rush. Take your time with it. Start with muted strumming and then try it

while moving between a pair of chords. Remember to use the open string trick on the last upstroke

before a chord change. Then try the following strumming pattern:

1 e & 2 e & 3 e & 4 e &

Just try it with muted strumming for now. Make sure you understand that you are simply letting

your hand bounce to the rhythm while missing the last upstroke of each beat, which would be

represented by the “a”. Then move on to the next pattern:


1 e a 2 e a 3 e a 4 e a

This time we are still letting our hand bounce to the rhythm, but missing the downstroke which

would be represented by the & of each beat.

Here is where the real fun, as well as the greater challenge, begins. We can now start creating more

complex rhythm patterns by using different combinations of quarter notes, eighth notes and

sixteenth notes. For example, see if you can use the four patterns described above as a legend, to

work out the strumming pattern for the following rhythm:

This might actually be a little difficult. If not, then go ahead and play it. You might even be ready to

start making up your own rhythm patterns of this sort, by simply beginning with a constant

sixteenth note foundation and randomly missing various downstrokes and upstrokes, much like we

did in the previous session with the straight eighth note foundation. I call this the difference

between playing in eighth feel and sixteenth feel. The only real difference is that, in eighth feel, the

accent, or beat, falls on the first of every two rhythmic pieces, where as here in sixteenth feel, the

beat or accent falls on the first of every four rhythmic units.

Often, students have trouble keeping their hand bouncing to the rhythm. Sometimes, their hand

wants to stop, mid bounce, which causes their rhythm to get out of whack. If the rhythm above is

still a little difficult, or if you have difficulty controlling your hand, use the following exercises to

begin training your hand to feel this sixteenth feel for rhythm:


Now try coming up with some of your own rhythm patterns. If you need to, write the name of each

piece of the rhythm above it, using the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the first unit of each bit and the

symbols “e”, “&” and “a” where appropriate. How many different combinations do you think are

possible? I wonder if we have any mathematicians in our midst.

Introducing Ties Just as we did with the eighth feel rhythm patterns, we can now develop even more rhythm patterns

by tying rhythmic units together where appropriate. For example, let’s take the rhythm pattern from

earlier in this session and add a tie:

As before, we simply miss the strings on the down strum for the 3 of the third beat, because it is

tied to the “a” of the second beat. Missing downstrokes like this can create fun and interesting

rhythm patterns. Consider the following rather drastic example:

Use the free space below to make up a number of your own rhythm patterns, using ties to join the

end of one beat to the beginning of the next. Make them as complicated as you can, then ensure

you can clap them out, as well as strum them. Don’t worry if you make mistakes. Nobody ever

succeeded at anything worthwhile without first failing a number of times. Use all the skills and

understandings you have learned so far in your rhythmic journey, such as writing out all the units,

such as 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a, as well as the rules you have learned about upstrokes and

downstrokes, which still apply completely to all the patterns you could possibly come up with using

the rhythmic notation we have explored so far.

Write at least five (5) rhythm patterns in the two rows below and play them with muted

strumming in your Grading Video. I’ll get your started:


5. Orange Repertoire

Knocking On Heaven’s Door (Straight 16th Feel) by Bob Dylan

G D Am G D C :

Sweet Child O Mine (Straight 8th Feel) by Guns N Roses

D D C C

G G D D :

Patience (Straight 8th Feel) by Guns N Roses

C C G G

A A D D :

Hey Joe (Straight 16th Feel) by Jimi Hendrix

C G D A E E :

To Her Door (Straight 8th Feel) by Paul Kelly

X4

G D C G : G

Em D C D

C D G D

C G D C :

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4


Most People I Know (Shuffle 8th Feel) by Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs

A A D A G E :

Wish You Were Here (Straight 16th Feel) by Pink Floyd

Intro

Em G Em G

Em Asus2 Em Asus2

G G Verse

C D Am G

D C Am G

Time of Your Life (Straight 8th Feel) by Greenday

Riff 1: Intro and Verse 1 (Vocals enter on 3rd repeat) X4

G G Cadd9 D : Prechorus

: Em7 D Cadd9 G :

Chorus

Em7 G Em7 G

Break

Em7 D

4

4

4

4

4

4


Bad Moon Rising (Straight 8th Feel) by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Verse X4

D A G D D :

Chorus

G G D D

A G D D

One (Straight 16th Feel) by U2

Am D F G :

Ain’t No Sunshine (Straight 8th Feel) by Bill Withers

Return to Start

Am E G A Am : Em Dm

I Shot the Sheriff (Straight 16th Feel) by Bob Marley

Chorus X2

Am Dm Am Am :

Verse X5

F Em Am :

Return to Chorus

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4


6. Arpeggiatin’ Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4


Exercise 5

If you have to put one finger in place at a time, for now, that’s fine, but the goal is to get all fingers

into place at the same time.

Exercise 6

We’re getting a bit more challenging now.

Exercise 7

This one should REALLY test out your rhythmic skills. Don’t be afraid to try and clap the rhythm

while tapping a beat with your foot. This helps immensely.

Have fun training! And try to make up some of your own on the next page.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now try to make up some arpeggiated rhythm patterns on the fly.


7. Am Improvisation

Remember the Pentatonic scale? Well, here it is again, just in case.

Start on the A note on the 5th fret.

Just remember that the line at the bottom represents the thickest string on the guitar.

Play through it a couple of times, to familiarise yourself. Have a muck around with the scale,

hitting notes at random, with some kind of rhythm, so it sounds kind of like a musical word. Here

are some ideas to try:

1. Slide into the first note you hit.

2. Use some hammer ons and pull offs.

3. Use some moments of silence.

4. Use repetition in various ways: single notes, repeated phrases, etc.

5. Pretend the scale is a set of stairs and dance your fingers up and down the stair case.

6. Notice which notes feel like a point of rest and which notes want to move to another note.

Remember the song, I Shot the Sheriff? The chorus went a little something like this:

Am Dm Am Am :

And the melody went a little something like this:

Or was it this?

The point is that these are just foundational ideas for you to play around with and build upon.

4

4


Here are your assignments for this section of the grading:

1. Learn the two melodies, as presented on the previous page, but don’t worry about memorising

them too thoroughly. Just get an idea of them and then start to play around with making up your

own variations. For the sake of this activity, you don’t have to feel like you have to be completely

true to the melody. Instead, just experiment and see what you can come up with.

2. TRY THIS VERY IMPORTANT EXERCISE!!!!!

Sing the phrase before you play it.

First, use your voice only (do NOT play your guitar yet) to sing the short phrase that you plan to

play.

Then, AFTER you have sung it, see if you can play the same phrase on your guitar.

Listen very carefully. Were the two melodies exactly the same?

If this is difficult, try it the other way around.

Play a very short, very simple phrase on your guitar and then see if you can sing it.

With practise, it will get easier and it will feel like a very cool skill to have. It will feel that way

because it IS a very cool skill to have. It will help you immensely throughout your development

as a musician.

3. Play this chord once: … then strum this chord: ... then strum this chord again

… and then play a little melody, … and play a little melody, … and play a little melody,

using the Am Pentatonic scale. using the Am Pentatonic scale. using the Am Pentatonic scale.

4. Next, familiarise yourself with the full, seven note scale, called A Natural Minor, or A Minor, for

short:

Start on the A note on the 5th fret.

Notice that the Am Pentatonic scale, from the beginning of this lesson, will superimpose nicely over

the top of this Am scale, because the Am scale contains all the notes of the Am Pentatonic scale,

plus two more. Use the pentatonic scale as your foundation for improvising and creating ideas and

add the other two notes tastefully as flavour tones.


8. Orange Warm Down

Don’t worry if you find this difficult at first. Most people do. Take your time with it, starting off

nice and slowly, focussing on smooth, clean articulation of notes.

Use the first finger for both of these notes.

Use the first finger for both of these notes.

Continue on, all the way up the neck and back down it again. See if you can keep track of not

only where you are in the pattern, but also where you are in the time signature. For example, at

any given point in the exercise you can quiz yourself:

How many bars have I played?

Am I confident I know which beat of the bar I am on right now?

See how far you can get before you are feeling a little lost. See if you can get a little bit further

each time, before you get this lost feeling.

Are you using alternate picking throughout (you should be) or are you using a combination of

picking patterns?

Again, don’t worry if this is extremely difficult and/ or confusing at first. With practice, it will all

become clear.

Happy picking!

This Top Secret Codex belongs to - Australian Guitar Academy

Documents

Transcript of This Top Secret Codex belongs to - Australian Guitar Academy