Scales & Technical Work should form an important, structured part of your practice routine. It will improve your general technique, practical theory knowledge, improvisation, understanding of melody & harmony, rhythm, tone, and so on.
Check out the Pickin’ Lessons structured, 2 part, scales & technical practice below. Give it a shot & I’m positive you’ll find yourself moving forward in no time! Go to lesson...
G’day! In this banjo lesson we’ll take a look at a Blues Shuffle using the blues scale, major blues scale and arpeggios for the chords in the 12 bar blues, played in G, plus we’ll also learn a number of licks to suit these chords.
This is the fourth blues lesson for the banjo, make sure you start with Blues Scale: Banjo Lesson where we cover some of the scales and arpeggios we’ll be using, plus there are a bunch more licks to learn first! Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Fill Licks #2: Mandolin Lesson we’ll take a look at 6 movable licks that are built with the hybrid mixolydian blues scale. Make sure you’ve checked out the first Fill Licks: Mandolin Lesson as we are using the same scales, arpeggio patterns & theory when playing these new licks. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Fill Licks: Mandolin Lesson we’ll take a look at 4 movable licks that are built with the hybrid mixolydian blues scale. These licks work great when played between vocal phrases in a song, but can also be used in general improvisation. The licks are all positioned conveniently around their equivalent chop chord. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this mandolin lesson we’ll take a look at nine hot licks that are built with the major blues scale. We’re in the key of G for this lesson, with licks over the G, C & D chords in both the open position and up the neck. As part of this lesson we’ll dive into a little theory (major blues scale in open & movable patterns, plus the major arpeggio found inside the scale) to help you understand how to use these licks and also start to build your own! Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Build A Break mandolin lesson for ‘Mountain Dew’, we’ll take a look at 3 variations, starting out with the basic melody (beginner), adding double stops to the melody (intermediate) and finishing with melody, double stops & added passing notes (advanced).
The arrangement is in the key of Bb, and is a movable break. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this banjo lesson we’ll take a look at a Blues in D using the blues scale and arpeggios for the chords in the 12 bar blues, played in D, plus we’ll also learn a number of licks to suit these chords. As part of this introductory blues lesson we’ll look at two versions of the D Blues Scale and the arpeggios for the three chords D7, G7 & A7. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this banjo lesson we’ll take a look at a Blues in G using the blues scale, major blues scale and arpeggios for the chords in the 12 bar blues, played in G, plus we’ll also learn a number of licks to suit these chords. As part of this lesson we’ll dive into some ideas to help you take your licks to the next level! Go to lesson...
G’day! In this mandolin lesson for ‘Life’s Railway To Heaven’, we’ll take a look at an advancing intermediate arrangement of the song, using double stops, in a movable pattern (Key of C). The arrangement has 2 variations, one each for the verse & chorus melodies.
‘Life’s Railway To Heaven’ is a popular, old gospel song that is always a great session sing-along! Go to lesson...
G’day! Big Sciota is one of my all time favourite fiddle tunes. It has a sweet sounding melody and is great fun to play! In this Big Sciota: Melodic Banjo Lesson we’ll take a look at an intermediate melodic banjo arrangement of the tune, played in the key of G. The melody sits in the melodic G major scale, using a large part of the neck. Go to lesson...