How Do I Learn All the Notes on the Fretboard?
The guitar fretboard can be a very tricky instrument to memorize, but understanding how to visualize the notes on the neck is absolutely essential no matter what style you play. Start by learning your octave shapes and then moving them all over the neck while saying the name of the note out loud. Pretty soon, your eyes, ears, and fingers will start to connect and you'll understand the fretboard on a deeper level.
How Do I Learn the CAGED System?
The CAGED system is simply a series of shapes based on the open-position chords we are learn when we are starting out. These shapes can help you not only understand chords, but also scales, arpeggios, and pentatonics. Start with our in-depth CAGED lesson and really develop seeing these shapes all over the neck.
How Do I Learn Triads on the Guitar?
Having a deep understanding of triads all over the neck is the foundation for a well-rounded view of the fretboard. Start simple with a few shapes on the top three strings and then move those through a few keys. Once that feels good start slowly moving those shapes to other string sets. Not all of them will be comfortable or useful in all situations, but soon you will develop a vocabulary of shapes.
How Do I Learn Arpeggios on the Guitar?
What's an arpeggio? It's when you play the notes of a chord one at a time. Arpeggios can take many forms, so don't try to tackle them all at once. Start with triads on adjacent strings and then slowly expand to 7th chords.
How Do I Learn Pentatonics?
Pentatonics are the bread-and-butter of blues-rock guitar. The shapes are easy to get under your fingers and learning some stock pentatonic licks is relatively easy. One tip: Learn the scales horizontally up the neck in addition to the vertical positions. It will make shifting patterns much easier.
Mayer has established himself as one of the most skilled and versatile guitarists of his generation. What sets him apart is not only his technical prowess but also his ability to seamlessly blend various genres and techniques into a signature style that is uniquely his own. Mayer's virtuosity on the guitar is particularly evident in his blues-inspired playing. He pays homage to blues legends like B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan through his expressive use of bends, slides, and vibrato.
John Mayer's guitar style is a mesmerizing fusion of technical brilliance, emotional depth, and genre-spanning versatility. His ability to tell stories through his guitar and connect with listeners on a profound level makes him a true guitar icon of our time. Whether he's performing blistering solos or crafting soulful ballads, Mayer's guitar work continues to captivate and inspire guitarists and music enthusiasts worldwide.
John Mayer Pt. 2—A Song Too Perfect to Record?
Cory WongCory and John Mayer sit down with their guitars to jam and discuss how they approach playing, songwriting, record-making, and the music business.