How Do I Get Out of 1st Position?

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Permalink Reply by Ray on October 7, 2009 at 2:56pm

Playing guitar from sheet music may not really take you where you want to go. Now don't get me wrong, interpreting sheet music is a serious skill, especially on a guitar, but if you want to be playing up the neck you need to work on learning movable scales, learning some more theory, and playing from tablature. I read music reasonably well, but on guitar I only use it to interpret the timing for pieces that have both the musical scale and tablature provided.

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Permalink Reply by Byron Walton on October 9, 2009 at 7:32am

Look for links on the pentatonic scale, and play with them up and down the fretboard. Even if the blues or rock is not your style these scales are easy to move, and fun to play.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Scanlan on October 9, 2009 at 8:58am

Some really good suggestions here Jason. Also, you might want to learn some alternate chord forms you can play up the neck. For instance: A "D" position played in the 5th fret is a nice substitue for "F", move it to the 7th fret and play "G", in both cases you get a nice drone from the open "D" string, don't play the low E or A strings. If you're not into barr chords yet, learn the barr positions..just a thought.
Jim

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Permalink Reply by ForeverAutumn on October 14, 2009 at 7:58pm

I am a third year student and have also struggled with this problem. My guitar teacher gave me a flat-picking piece two weeks ago that went up to third position and the seventh fret. It had the finger positions written into the tab. After two weeks of solid practice, I'm moving up and down positions with ease. Although it's only up to third position, I have a much better understanding now of how to move into different positions and how it feels.

My advice, from someone who has just learned to do this, is find a piece of music that you find fun to play and practice, practice, practice.

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Permalink Reply by Ed Burns on October 14, 2009 at 10:06pm

I could be a smart ass and say get a capo, but I won't do that. LOL. Soloing requires scales that have been mentioned before, mainly the pentatonic. If you master the minor pentatonic in all keys in both 5 string and 6th string root. you have learned the secret to lead guitar in blues, rock, smooth jazz, jazz, just about all forms of music. This scale works all over the neck and will razzle dazzle your friends and family. It is the same pattern (box) just in different places. It IS the key to going from a strummer to a real guitarist. In a little while, with practice, it will feel as natural as chords in the first position. Good luck and keep playing!!! Ed

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Permalink Reply by Jason Jimerson on October 15, 2009 at 7:54pm

Thanks everyone. I am working on using barre chords, movable scales, and alternate chord forms. I'm also trying to train my ear and memory to recognize the same notes in different places on the fretboard. Still, when I watch other players, I see how far that I have to go to get ready for public performance and wonder if I will ever get "good enough" (not great, but good enough).

Given that I teach for a living, this has made me more sympathetic for struggling students. I know how it feels to be a slow learner. But, hey I play better than I did two years ago, and as long as I keep getting better, there is hope that I will become good enough.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on November 1, 2009 at 12:17pm

I like Brian's reply...That's essentially what I did. I started learning "moveable" scale positions and just started playing riffs and exercises all over the neck.

Once you understand where the "root" notes for these scales fall out, and the related notes for those roots, you can start to build solos.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Baker on November 9, 2009 at 9:47am

I would highly recommend "Fretboard Theory", by Desi Serna. I don't know the man personally, and this is not a sales pitch - but I've used his materials myself and found them extremely helpful. The full program is a book and 4 DVDs (although each piece can be purchased individually if you prefer), covering a lot of music theory and its practical application to the guitar. The program teaches the full pentatonic and major scales and the CAGED chord template - all of which would help you play using the entire neck. There is a lot to learn and it won't happen overnight, but it's the best system I've seen for learning this stuff. Also, the author invites questions via email, and usually answers them the same day. His stuff can be bought through Amazon, or directly from the author (www.guitar-music-theory.com).

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Permalink Reply by FloridaGull on November 6, 2011 at 8:00am

I'm replying to this to bump it up - good info here :-)

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Permalink Reply by Pascal Proust on November 6, 2011 at 3:28pm

For harmony, study chord patterns out of first position : to best memorize, and know what you're doing (in order to reuse them by yourself) learn the patterns by noticing the relative postiion of the fundamental note (the one that give the name of the chord), and particularly the root fundamental on the pattern, the one that will be on the lowest string. Basically, these root notes are on 6th, 5th and 4th strings. If you work this way, you'll be able to play triads (packs of 3 notes) which are the core of chords in a way, but also the link to scales and melody, which are the key to improvisation and play what you want all over the fretboard.

For melody, study scales and all positions for each one. Start by basic scales such as major diatonic, natural minor diatonic, and minor pentatonic. There can be 2, 3 or 4 patterns for a given scale, and you can also combine them to cover the whole fingerboard. Some scale patterns are designed vertically, to stay in one position on the fretboard, and others are spread horizontally to cover all the fretboard. Working different patterns will make you play more out of the first position, and on all strings. Once you get a little bit used to it, you'll then make a link with notes, chords and triads, in order to play all over the neck with logic, and with a rich harmonic and melodic play.

It will require a lot of practice, but if you don't go fast, you'll get step-by-step results quickly. You don't need to read music, learn theory, or harmony laws first, even if it helps alot to go further. First, train your fingers and your ear : throughout your pratcice, listen to what you're doing and you'll improve.

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