Collection: Learning guitar - Level 4

Level 4 of the Road map for learning to play guitar makes you an more advanced Pop and Rock guitar player and you’ll learn a little bit of advanced techniques that can be found in Progressive Rock and Jazz.

Rhythm
You will practice 16th note patterns with syncopation and learn about the shuffle rhythm, triplets and sixtuplets. Also the “hemiola” is one of the advanced rhythms that you’ll learn in this level.
Chords and harmony
You’ll complete the bar chords with the diminished, added 9 and sus chords. You will be studying shell voicings as an alternative for bar chords and other more complex chords that you’ll see in the next levels.
It’s important that you get familiar the most common cadences and progressions.
Scales
You’ll learn two of the diatonic major and minor scale patterns and learn to mix diatonic scales and pentatonic scales. You’ll also learn how to chain different patterns over the whole neck.
Technique and improvisation
You’ll learn the basic tapping technique and string skipping. Also improvising with the diatonic scale instead of the pentatonic scale (and mixing both scales) is a subject of this level. You also learn how to improvise over the notorious ii-V-I progression with the things you’ve learned.
Picking technique
You start with syncopated 16th note picking patterns, triplet picking patterns and gaining more picking speed with progressive exercises. You’ll get more awareness of the picking motion by using the inside and outside picking technique.
Arpeggios
In this level you’ll start with spread triads arpeggios. The closed triad arpeggios will now comprehend all strings. You'll also learn some maj7, min7 and dom7 arpeggio shapes.
Fingerstyle
In this level you’ll learn some intermediate classical and modern guitar pieces. You’ll also learn how to play rests.
Theory
You learn how harmonize the diatonic major and minor scale and you learn all about the Circle of Fifths. You’ll be be learning the position of the notes over all string up to the 8th position.
And you will be learning the theory of 7th chords (structure and meaning).
Reading music
Reading notes in the 5th position, reading music with fingered bass-lines and reading intervals.