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In this lesson we will cover the Am scale and learn how to play rhythm guitar using only 2 notes of each chord in the progression. A popular progression from the Am scale, is the Am F and G progression. The Am scale and the Am pentatonic scale, both fit over this progression. Listen to the lead guitar part on Stairway to Heaven and you will notice the rhythm behind the main lead is the Am F and G progression. The lead guitar part, utilizes the Am scale. Sure Stairway to Heaven is an old song, but why not learn from one of the best, this of course being Jimmy Page. A simple progression can lead to some great songs.

The Am scale or relative minor, consists of 8 notes and 7 chords. The guitar chords are as follows:

Am Bdim C Dm Em F and G. Notice that the progression of Am F and G, is right out of this scale. Look at the illustration below. This illustration shows each of the notes from the Am scale at the 5th fret position. If you look really close, you can also see the notes of the Am pentatonic scale. A C D E and G. 

The Am pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale and drops the notes of B and F. Compare each of the illustrations below and notice the similarities.

What were are going to do is play a progression using only 2 notes of each chord. We know that a basic chord or triad consists of 3 notes. For example, the Am chord has the notes of A C and E. Look at the Am scale above and you will notice that the notes of A C and E are in the both Am scale and Am pentatonic scale. 

You will find that all seven chords that make up the Am scale can be found in this scale. The F chord is made up of the F A and C notes. The G chord is made up of the G B and D notes.

Back to our progression of Am F and G. When you play a progression, you don't have to play all the notes of a given chord. For example, if we played the Am chord, we wouldn't have to play all 3 notes of this chord, we could play 2 notes if we wanted to. We could play the A and E notes, or even the A and C notes.

We could also play these notes anywhere on the fretboard in which they were located. However, in this lesson we will play the progression directly from the Am scale root note 5th fret position. Once again, check out the Am scale below. For our progression we are going to use the notes of Am F and G chords. We are going to play this progression right on top of this scale. And instead of using all three notes for each chord, we are only going to use two notes from each chord. For this progression we never have to use more than two fingers to play each of these chords. Since we are only using two notes of each chord, we can refer to this as a dyad or only two notes. 

Check out the illustration below. This illustration shows the notes of each of the dyads we will use. Once again these notes are taken right from the Am scale above. Each of the dyads have been tied together. For example the first F chord below shows the F and C notes. Then the G chord shows the G and D notes. The Am shows the A and E notes. The last F shows the F and A notes.

Check out the tablature below. The tablature will illustrate the suggested fingering to play each of these chords.

Now for the progression we have to learn. The tablature below will illustrate somewhat how I played the Am F and G chords. For this progression, I've tuned the guitar down 1/2 step to get a little deeper sound. The tuning will be Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. The tablature will be as if the guitar was tuned normal. 

Play the above part twice. The x means to mute the strings. You can lay your picking hand down on the strings to do this.

To see how this progression sounds behind a lead guitar part, check out the following example. The lead guitar part I've used is the Am pentatonic scale 5th fret root note position. I played the entire lead guitar part in the 5th fret position. Check this position out on the Am pentatonic illustration at top of the page.

For the lead guitar part, I've incorporated hammer ons, additional dyads, single notes and more.

You can do a lot with a simple progression, notice how the notes of Am pentatonic scale sound good over the Am no b3rd. G no 3rd, F no 3rd and F no 5th, these are the notes excluded from each of those chords.

It is highly recommend to purchase an inexpensive drum machine and recorder. You can find a recorder for less than a hundred bucks.

Good luck,

Guitar Secrets