Top 3 Exotic Scales | PART ONE (Patreon)

Welcome newcomers to my FREE gift! This video demonstrates the core components of my Shred Method. It took me 20 years and hundreds of students to realize the standard way of teaching music theory doesn't work. Using my 5 keys to approach scales will take you from a guitarist to COMPOSER fast! Full tabs, backing track and guitar pro files are below!

THE FIVE KEYS 🔑

There's five ideas I cover in this video. The scale itself, a lick targeting tendency tones, the scale's primary chords, scale counterpoint and finally an exotic/erotic guitar riff. These 5 keys turn you into a real musician, not just a rando fingering the gstring muhahaha!

🛑 E PHRYGIAN DOMINANT SCALE

Without question the most popular and well known exotic guitar scale is Phrygian Dominant. It sounds like an Ancient Pharaoh spreading his curse across the land muhahaha. Here's the phrygian dominant scale in the key of E. The notes of E Phrygian Dominant are E-F-G#-A-B-C and D. She wants the D son! (gross whale) There's two central pitches that make this scale deliciously EVIL. The flat 2nd and the major 3rd. It's like a major scale seasoned with exotic spices. The best way to familiarize yourself with Phrygian Dominant is by improvising over a drone. A drone is a recurring pitch that helps us form an emotional bond with a musical idea. Listen carefully to how each pitch affects your emotional state 

🛑 E PHRYGIAN DOMINANT LICK

Once you've explored the phrygian dominant scale over a drone, try making a signature lick to unlock the mysteries of the pyramids muhahaha. In order to create something exotic/erotic, target the defining pitches of the scale. An E major chord or E-G# and B form the underlying tonality of phrygian dominant. Use tendency tones like the flat 2nd F to enrich the basic ingredients with delicious spices. Another way to capture an exotic sound is through articulation. Bending, slides, vibrato and legato bursts are a few ideas to get you started. I begin my lick with a melody or main theme to arrest the listeners attention. It's often better to save fast playing or flashy techniques for a later point in your solo. Step one is to reflect your inner state and capture that exotic vibe with a strong line

🛑 Practice Strategy: MEAT

Try using my MEAT approach to quickly learn any musical passage. MEAT is an acronym standing for Main Idea, Execution, Assemble and Timing. We start by gathering basic information about the piece. What's the key and scale being used? In this case we're basically in the key of C, except for the presence of the G# note. The next step is deciding what techniques are appropriate to properly execute the music. For this passage we'll be using legato, slides, bends and even a little fingerstyle. Once you have a basic understanding of the piece, it's time to assemble each section. Break the music down bar by bar, or even beat by beat. Don't be ashamed to make these bite sized chunks as small as you need to. Using a timing reference point like the metronome is the final step in my practice strategy. Lock into the groove and make each note vibrate with charisma and energy. For best results, try looping a short section and play it over and over

🛑 E PHRYGIAN DOMINANT CHORDS

 You can't just rep phrygian dominant randomly and expect it to sound good over any song. The trick is spotting the right harmonic opportunity. For example, whenever you see the chords E and F, that's your cue to get exotic. Here's an example of phrygian dominant's primary chords in action. The phrygian dominant scale sounds amazing over these two magical chords. In fact, E and F chord progressions form the basis of many songs. Flamenco music, Spanish classical guitar and even pop music. The E major chord in particular has a strong emotional pull. It's like a sudden plot twist in a good movie, driving up tension that begs for release

💪 BRAIN BREAK: 50 Push Ups

Another thing that begs for release is my breasts after a good workout. Let's hit a set of 50 push ups to reset the brain and initiate the next phase of learning 

🛑 COUNTERPOINT

The greatest weakness guitar players have when it comes to songwriting is what I call the C WORD, or counterpoint. Counterpoint is the study of how musical voices move. It's what makes your lines interesting. Here's a short counterpoint phrase in phrygian dominant to ignite our imagination. Be careful though, you might unlock the pharoah's crypt muhahaha! Unfortunately there's a lot of rules when it comes to writing counterpoint but f$%K all that. Our main goal is to plant ideas we can grow into songs later. Begin using counterpoint by making small alterations to power chords 

🛑 E PHRYGIAN DOMINANT RIFF

The whole point of learning scales is to flex on noobs and impress the babes with 200 bpm shredding right? Muhahaha. With that wholesome goal in mind, the final step is writing a RIFF. Riffs are the most powerful thing a guitarist can play. Use lines from the counterpoint phrases to get you started. (0-0-0 meme) By adding your low E string as a pedal, you can start to hear a song take form. Now, let's be honest, sometimes we just don't feel inspired to create something special. Good news is you don't have to wait for lightning to strike. Truth is you can force inspiration with my PMS method. PMS stands for Personal experience, movies, music and stories. I like to contemplate the myth of the evil pharaoah... rising from his pyramid crypt to exact revenge on all who oppose him. Visualizing an idea helps us write something powerful

⭐️ What did you think of this lesson? Post any questions below. Check out Exotic Scales Part 2 below to unlock the secrets of the Byzantine scale!

🛑 Exotic Scales Part 2

https://www.patreon.com/posts/5-keys-to-better-100261223