Six Strings
In this section: Course
Course

Intermediate course

Find your way around the whole neck, understand a song’s harmony and improvise in minor, blues and major.

40 15-minute lessons in 8 steps. Each step ends with a practice lesson and a review.

Your course:

Which guitar do you play?

The course adapts: the shared lessons, plus the ones specific to your guitar. You can switch anytime; your progress is kept.

0 lesson done out of 40
Start the course

1Find any note on the low strings and put a barre chord on itCompleted

Theme: Finding your way around the neck · Review: 0

  1. The notes on the low E and A strings15 minutes a day for a week · Name the notes on strings 6 and 5
  2. Moveable barre chords everywhere15 minutes a day for a week · Play major, minor, 7 and m7 on any note
  3. An introduction to CAGED15 minutes a day for a week · Play a C chord in all five CAGED shapes
  4. One chart, three keysPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a few days · Play a chord chart in three keys with barre chords

2Understand why a song’s chords belong togetherCompleted

Theme: Useful theory · Review: 0

  1. Intervals15 minutes · Recognize thirds and fifths
  2. Building a chord15 minutes · Build a chord on a given note
  3. The chords in a key15 minutes · Find the chords in a major key
  4. Recognizing chord progressions15 minutes a day for a week · Recognize three progressions by ear
  5. Transposing with scale degreesPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a few days · Transpose a chord chart with scale degrees

3Play sixteenth-note rhythms: funk, reggae, 6/8 balladCompleted

Theme: Advanced rhythm · Review: 0

  1. Sixteenth notes15 minutes · Strum in sixteenth notes
  2. Muting and funk15 minutes · Play funk with muted strokes
  3. Syncopation and reggae15 minutes · Play on the offbeat
  4. The 6/8 ballad15 minutes · Strum a progression in 6/8
  5. One song, three groovesPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a few days · Switch grooves without stopping

4Improvise all over the neck with the 5 pentatonic positionsCompleted

Theme: Soloing · Review: 0

  1. The 5 pentatonic positions15 minutes a day for one to two weeks · Play the 5 pentatonic positions
  2. The bend15 minutes · Bend a note in tune
  3. Your first licks15 minutes · String licks together in an improvisation
  4. Call and response15 minutes · Improvise in call and response
  5. A solo across the whole neckPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a few days · Improvise for 2 minutes across three positions

5Improvise a blues solo that follows the chordsCompleted

Theme: The blues in depth · Review: 0

  1. The blues scale15 minutes · Play the blue note in passing
  2. Targeting chord tones15 minutes a day for a week · Target the third of each chord in the blues
  3. Blues turnarounds and intros15 minutes a day for a week · Play turnarounds and intros
  4. A blues chorusPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a week · Improvise three choruses of blues

6Improvise in majorCompleted

Theme: The major scale, applied · Review: 0

  1. The major scale on the neck15 minutes a day for a week · Play three positions of the major scale
  2. The major pentatonic15 minutes · Play the major pentatonic and understand the relative minor
  3. Improvising in major15 minutes a day for a week · Improvise in major by targeting chord tones
  4. A ballad in majorPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day for a few days · Play a melody, then improvise over its progression

7Color your rhythm playing with extended chordsCompleted

Theme: Extended chords · Review: 0

  1. Maj7 and m7 chords15 minutes · Enrich a chord progression
  2. Sus2, sus4 and add9: making a chord move15 minutes · Make a chord move with sus chords
  3. Slash chords and descending bass lines15 minutes · Play a descending bass line with slash chords
  4. Triads on the high strings15 minutes a day, for a week · Play a progression in triads on the high strings
  5. Dressing up a songPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day, for a few days · Rearrange a song with richer chords

8Go further with your guitar: your electric tone or fingerstylePlay fingerstyleShape your electric toneCompleted

Theme: Your guitar’s own style · Review: 0

  1. Travis picking: the alternating thumb15 minutes · Play an alternating bass on C and G · Acoustic guitar only
  2. Effects pedals15 minutes · Recognize and chain the main effects · Electric guitar only
  3. Pinch harmonics15 minutes · Put a pinch harmonic into a lick · Electric guitar only
  4. Melody and bass together15 minutes a day, for a week · Play a melody over an alternating bass · Acoustic guitar only
  5. The looper: jam with yourself15 minutes · Record a loop and improvise over it · Electric guitar only
  6. Natural harmonics15 minutes · Make natural harmonics ring · Acoustic guitar only
  7. Monday BluesPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day, for one to two weeks · Play a whole blues with an alternating bass · Acoustic guitar only
  8. One loop, one tone, one soloPutting it into practice · 15 minutes a day, for a few days · Improvise over your own loop · Electric guitar only

The other courses

  • Beginner course: You’ve never played, or you started on your own without a method.
  • Advanced course: You improvise all over the neck and you know your scale degrees.