How the Pros Make Lead Guitar Look EASY the GG Method Revealed Soloin with 3 Simple Any Song in Steps Any Key in 15 Minutes Or Less

BreakthroughGuitar.com How The Pros Make Lead Guitar Look EASY The GG Method Revealed SoloIn with 3 Simple Any Song in Steps Any Key in 15 Minutes or Less

How The Pros Make Lead Guitar Look Easy The “GG Method” Revealed In 3 Simple Steps

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“I can now “read the language” of the fretboard! It was a missing link that tied together some great theories into one amazing one with limitless possibilities!” - Jeremiah B.

“Knowing how keys worked and how “cookie cutter” it is is amazing! I can play along with any song I hear. That’s not bragging, its the truth.” - Jeff G.

“When I first learned scales, I only learned weird shapes - just part of the scale - I didn't know where to go with it, and it didn't seem useful. But now I see the whole picture!” - John K.

“I was always missing something, but I could never find out what it was that I was missing. When I learned Jonathan’s instruction and system, a whole new world opened up for me!” - Elliot C.

What’s In This For You?

First of all, welcome and congrats for taking action to be here. I’m super excited that you decided to join me.

By downloading this lesson you’ve proven you’re serious about improving your guitar skills. And you want to do more than just play a few songs here and there. You want to be able to IMPROVISE…

You want to play YOUR music… and not just someone else's.

I respect you for that.

Believe it or not, only a small percentage of guitar players make it this far in their journey.

The vast majority of people who ever pick up a guitar just learn a few chords, then put their guitar away in the closet to collect dust.

But not you. And that’s awesome!

So before we begin, you may be wondering…

“Why should I read this lesson, consider what it says, and then actually whip out my guitar to try it? How is it different from anything else I’ve seen? And how is it going to help me?”

Great question. You deserve an answer.

I Get What It’s Like…

Look, I know there’s a ton of information out there.

A TON! It’s really crazy. It’s so easy for your head to start spinning…

Especially when you start looking into music theory, tabs, licks, scales, keys, riffs, and on and on… YUCK!

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed. It’s so easy to get frustrated with your progress. And it’s so easy to feel lost sometimes.

I understand that 100%.

Even after 14 years of “playing”, I struggled to play more than a handful of chords and a few “song fragments” I’d picked up over the years.

I got sick and tired of just playing the same old stuff and feeling “limited”…

YouTube didn’t help, books didn’t help, and even a couple of teachers I had didn’t help.

I just felt stuck.

Eventually I did find one teacher online who showed me how guitar really worked.

And now looking back…

…After playing guitar over 20 years, recording 2 albums, being in 4 bands, playing hundreds of shows including South By Southwest (voted one of the world’s most popular music festivals)…

I can tell you that NONE of that frustration and overwhelm is necessary to be a great guitar player… and improvising is SO much simpler than I ever imagined.

I used to think that you had to learn all the stuff out there… all the theory… memorize all the chords… all the notes… read music…

Only then would I be able to improvise.

But I found out that wasn’t true at all. In fact, I’ve had several students LAUGH OUT LOUD when I showed them how “simple” it really is.

If that sounds a bit like a stretch, I don’t blame you. Today however, I know it to be true because I use it and teach it every single day.

Now believe me. I don’t say any of this to brag - I can’t stand “show-offs”…

I just want to open your mind to a new way of thinking. And to show you what’s possible when you do.

That’s why I created this lesson for you.

To help you see the “new way.”

And as always, I really want to over-deliver for you.

If you’re feeling “stuck” or “limited” on guitar, what you’re about to discover will be a huge “AHA”. And it will open up a whole new world for you on guitar.

That’s my goal for you.

What You’ll Get When You Apply This Material Today…

By applying this material TODAY (not tomorrow or next week), you’ll discover a powerfully simple concept that will swing open the door to a whole new universe of expressive freedom for you.

Bold statement? Yes. But I know it to be true from my experience and my students’ results.

You’ll be able to jam along with your favorite songs and even create your own solos off the cuff.

You’ll be able to play all the right notes (in the right key) without thinking about where to put your fingers.

You’ll have the “tools” to sound good playing along with nearly any song you choose.

And you’ll impress anyone who hears you play - even when you think what you’re playing is “nothing special.”

The surprising part? How you’re going to do that is much simpler than you might imagine right now.

But First I Need To Warn You…

There are a few things that could destroy your chances of making progress today, and in the future.

(And I really want to help you avoid them!)

If you find yourself thinking “I know that”, “I’ve tried that”, or “this doesn’t work”, watch out!

That kind of thinking can prevent you from making progress no matter what you try.

I strongly encourage you to keep an open mind…

A “beginner’s mind” as they say…

And then actually DO what I suggest in the following pages.

Yes, even if you think you already know it.

Do I have your agreement?

Ok good. :-)

There’s a cool Zen saying that goes:

“To know and not to do is not to know”

You see, real knowledge comes through doing, not “learning” about doing.

In other words, nobody wants to hear how much you know about guitar.

They want to hear you play your guitar!

So with that said, again, keep a “beginner’s mind” as you read.

The truth is, if you follow the steps and do everything I’m asking you to do, this lesson will work for you.

And I guarantee you will learn something you did not know before.

Ready? Meet me in Step 1…

STEP 1

How To Always Know Where To Start

Before a track race, runners position themselves on starting blocks. Before a football game, football players start on their team’s side of the field. And before you play guitar, you have to start somewhere too.

How do we know where to start on guitar?

Notes.

Don’t let that scare you. If you think you need to “know” every note you play, you don’t.

You see, for our purpose, the names of the notes are simply “locators” or “landmarks”.

If you can remember the location of your house, your friend’s house, or the grocery store, you can remember the locations of the few notes we’re going to learn here.

Knowing where just a handful of notes are on your guitar will help you accelerate your progress on guitar tremendously.

Why? You can use them as landmarks to help you instantly locate scales, bar chords, and keys - without even thinking.

For this exercise, we’ll only discuss the notes on the low E string (the “fattest” string). And to make it even easier - only the “natural” notes.

What are the “natural notes”? Simple. “Natural” just means the letters of the alphabet - A B C D E F G. No sharps or flats.

Can you remember the first 7 letters of the alphabet?

A B C D E F G?

Certainly.

Doesn’t get easier than that, does it?

So to start, let’s find these natural notes on your guitar.

The Natural Notes on the Low E String Here are the ‘natural’ notes on the Low E string (the fattest string):

Quick Tip: The low E string (fattest string) is at the BOTTOM of this chart - almost like the chart is upside down. Also, the “open E” note (in the bottom left corner) is enlarged to show that “E” is the first (and lowest sounding) note on the low E string. Also, you can “visualize” the open E note as if it was on the “0th” fret, just as shown on the chart. The numbers at the bottom of the chart are fret numbers.

A Super Simple Way To Memorize The Natural Notes

In order to “lock” these notes in your brain so you couldn’t forget them if you tried, let’s actually play these notes and say them out loud in a particular order.

QUICK TIP: When learning names of notes, always “Play it and Say it”. As you pick the string,

say the name of the note out loud while actually “looking” at the note. Follow this tip and the notes will burn themselves in your mind in no time.

The Up/Down Exercise

This exercise is super simple.

Start by playing the open E string, and saying the word “E” out loud. Then, move on to the first fret, play the note and say the word “F”. Then move to the third fret - play that note and say “G”. Then keep going.

Continue to follow the alphabet going up the fretboard on the low E string, remembering to “play and say” each “natural note” - all the way to the 12th fret (which is the note “E”).

By this time, you should have played E F G A B C D E in that order. Notice on the fretboard that “B and C” are right next to each other. So are “E” and “F”. Why? Who knows… they just are.

Just make a mental note.

Make sure to remember the notes EF and BC are only one fret apart (right next to each other) on your guitar.

After you have worked your way up to the 12th fret, simply play and say each note in reverse - going “down” the fretboard (down in “pitch”, which is going away from your body) - to get back to where you started.

So in other words, you’ll start on the 12th fret, play and say “E”, then move down to the 10th fret - play and say “D” - then move down to the 8th fret - play and say “C” - and so on until you get back down to the open E note.

After you get the hang of it, play and say the natural notes in order going “up” the fretboard (toward your body) and then back down (away from your body). Do this until you are reasonably comfortable with naming each natural note.

That’s it. We’re just going to use these notes to locate our scale pattern in just a bit.

See? Simple isn't it?

Now, pick up your guitar and actually DO this “up/down” natural notes exercise right now.

Don’t skip it. Don’t move on. Do it now! The ONLY way to get better at guitar is to learn one thing, and then actually DO IT!

Go ahead and do this now, then read on.

What about Sharps and Flats?

Very simply, sharp means “up one fret” (toward your body).

Flat simply means “down one fret” (away from your body).

By the way, when I say “up”, I mean up in pitch. When I say d”own”, I mean down in pitch.

Let’s say you were trying to find the note “Bb” (B flat).

Simply find your B note. Then, to make it “flat”, move down one fret (away from your body). Now you have Bb.

To find G# (G sharp), first find your G note. Then move up one fret (toward your body) to G#.

Easy right?

Nice job. You’ve made it through Part 1. Now it gets fun!

I’ll meet you in PART 2 below…

STEP 2

How to Hit All the Right Notes Without Thinking

Alright, here’s the part you’ve been waiting for.

And it’s easy!

For this step, we’re going to learn one very simple and easy to use scale pattern…

BUT…

Remember what I said earlier about thinking “I already know that.” Even if you’ve used scale patterns before - even if you’ve seen this exact scale pattern before - just STAY THE COURSE anyway!

Don’t let past frustrations or disappointments steal your opportunity to make a breakthrough in your guitar playing right now.

In fact, just for fun, imagine everything you’ve learned about “scales” before is temporarily being completely erased.

{erasing now…}

{almost finished…}

Gone.

This exact scale pattern is the cornerstone of the foundation for your freedom on guitar. So take it very seriously.

The stronger your foundation, the higher and faster you can build.

Scale Pattern 1 For now, we’ll simply call this scale pattern “Scale Pattern 1”.

Here is how to play Scale Pattern 1 in TAB (in ascending order, then descending order):

Here is Scale Pattern 1 shown graphically on a “scale chart” IMPORTANT: In case you’ve never seen or played a scale pattern from a chart like this before, the low E (fattest) string is on the bottom of this graph. There are three notes on each string. Play each of the three notes on one string (from lowest note to highest note) from left to right before moving to the next string - just as shown in the TAB. If you play the TAB, and look at the “dots” on the scale chart, you’ll see how the scale chart is laid out.

Which fingers should you use? Glad you asked.

Here’s the rule: On one string, whenever the 3- note pattern spans more than four frets (like on the E and A strings) use your first finger, middle finger, and pinky. Always.

When the 3-note pattern on one string spans exactly four frets, use whichever finger (first

finger, middle, ring, pinky - or 1, 2, 3, 4) matches where the note is.

For example, out of a “four fret span”, if the scale notes fall on the first fret, third fret, and fourth fret, you would use your first finger, third finger, and fourth finger (index, ring, and pinky). If, out of the four fret span, the scale notes fall on the first fret, second fret, and fourth fret, you would use your first finger, second finger, and fourth finger respectively.

Stick to this finger rule whenever you’re playing 3 notes on one string.

This will help build your muscle memory connected to your sound memory much, much faster. And as a result, it will become easier to get better faster. It will probably feel awkward at first, but keep at it, trust the process and it will become natural.

A tip for memorizing this pattern Notice how this pattern has “pairs of patterns” (the pattern on the first two strings, middle two strings, and last two strings is the same).

Or said differently, the fret numbers for the E and A strings are the same. The fret numbers for the D and G strings are the same. And the fret numbers for the B and e (high pitched E string) strings are the same.

Try to memorize this scale pattern just two strings at a time if you find it difficult to memorize the entire pattern at once.

Then, after you’ve practiced all 3 groups of 2 strings, put them all together to practice the entire scale pattern from beginning to end, then backwards from end to beginning.

How to practice this pattern Your first objective is to memorize this scale pattern.

You’ll know you have it memorized when you can play the entire pattern without looking at the chart or the TAB.

This is your first goal. Do it right now! GO!

Don’t read on until you have this pattern memorized and can play the entire pattern without looking at the TAB or the chart (it doesn’t need to sound perfect right now - you just need to have it memorized).

After you have memorized the pattern, practice playing the pattern very slowly.

Play from the lowest sounding note all the way up to the highest sounding note, and then in reverse, from the highest note to the lowest note.

Tip: If each note doesn’t sound good, you’re playing too fast! There’s nothing wrong with practicing slowly (in fact, the fastest way to play fast is to practice slow!).

Slow down, and practice playing well. Let me repeat, focus your mind on playing each and every note WELL.

After you can play the scale pattern reasonably well all the way up (from the lowest note to the highest note) and then back down (from the highest note to the lowest note), you’re ready to move on to the most fun part!

How To Improvise Using This Scale Pattern…

By now you’re probably wondering what you’re going to do with this scale pattern we just learned.

Now, you’ll finally get to enjoy putting all of your hard work to use to start improvising over real music.

If you’ve never done this before, get ready - you’ll have so much fun with this. I’m even excited for you myself!

Here’s what to do.

Go to YouTube.

Search for “G Major Backing Track”.

Several tracks will come up in the search results, and you will notice that there will be different “styles” of G Major Backing Tracks.

Pick one that sounds interesting to you, and click on it.

When the track plays, simply start playing “Scale Pattern 1” you just learned.

Make sure you start on the 3rd fret on the low E string (fat string), just as indicated in the TAB and shown on the chart.

What you’ll discover fairly quickly is that each note you play sounds reasonably good.

That’s because you’re hitting all the right notes!

Now, it’s your job to just explore. Skip around. Jam to the music. Have fun!

As long as you only play the notes in “Scale Pattern 1”, everything you play will sound pretty good!

You can even try other “G Major Backing Tracks” if you want.

Just jam until you get your fill, and enjoy the fact that it really is that easy to hit all the right notes.

Then continue on and meet me in PART 3…

STEP 3 The Key to Keys: How To Sound Great Over Any Song

Here we are. The final steps.

I hope you had fun in the last step.

Do these last couple of steps and you’ll be able to improvise in any key. And you’ll probably be the only guitar player you know who can say that!

Are you ready?

This last part is as easy as it gets. It’s so super-simple you might just laugh.

All you have to do to change keys is “slide” the entire scale pattern, exactly the way you learned it, up or down the neck (toward or away from your body) to start on a different fret on the low E string.

That’s it. Really.

How do you know what key you’re in?

Well first, we need to talk about one more tiny thing.

We have two kinds of keys: “major” keys and “minor” keys.

What’s the difference?

To put it simply, songs played in “major” keys sound happy or bright. Songs played in “minor” keys sound sad or dark.

So first, let’s talk about how you would play in different Major Keys.

How To Play in Different Major Keys

This one couldn’t be more simple.

Remember that we “started” Scale Pattern 1 from the low E string (the fat string) on the 3rd fret?

Well, the name of the note you start Scale Pattern 1 on is the name of the “Major” key you’re playing in.

Since you started on the 3rd fret (which is a G note), you were playing in the key of G major.

This is why it sounded good when you played with a “G Major backing track” on YouTube. The song itself was in G Major. And so were you. It was a match.

Want to play in the key of A Major?, simply put your first finger on the “A” note (on the low E string) and start the scale from there.

Want to play in the key of B? Slide your finger to the “B” note and start your scale from there.

Isn’t that simple? Go ahead and try it.

Here’s what to do now.

Go to YouTube. This time just search for “Major Backing Track”.

When the search results come up, you’ll see that there are tracks in different Major keys - Like C Major, B Major, G Major, etc.

The cool thing is, you can play in all of those Major keys now!

Pick a major backing track that sounds cool to you. Press play, and play Scale Pattern 1 starting on the “key note”.

For example, if you picked a “C Major Backing Track”, just find the “C” note on your E string, and start Scale pattern 1 from there.

When you match the “key note” to the note you start on, every note you play sounds good when you play over the backing track!

Quick Tip: When sliding the scale pattern to a new position for the first time, you may find that you

“stumble” around a bit. This is normal. It’s because the “dots” on the fretboard are now in a new place.

Just make sure to “visualize the pattern” of the scale (as shown on the chart), and try not to pay attention to where the dots on your guitar are.

With just a small amount of practice, you’ll be able to play the pattern anywhere on your fretboard.

Now…

Let’s tackle how we’re going to play in Minor Keys.

How to Play in Minor Keys

Good news. We’re still going to use Scale Pattern 1 to play in Minor keys.

We only need to do one extra step when figuring out where to start Scale Pattern 1 if we’re playing in a Minor Key.

You do like “simple”, right? Good. Hehe ;)

Because that extra step is just four words long. Here it is:

“Move 3 frets up.”

Yep, it’s that simple. Let me explain.

Any song in a Minor key will still have a “key note”. For example, a song (or backing track in this case) might be in the key of C Minor, or F Minor, or G Minor… Etc.

The “letter” - like C, F, or G - is what I call the “key note”.

To play in a Minor key, simply find the “key note”, then move 3 frets up (toward your body on the E string) and start Scale Pattern 1 from there.

(Hint: DON’T count the first note. Start from the first note, then count)

So, let’s say you wanted to play in the key of “A Minor”.

What you would do is first find your “A” note (on the E string), which happens to be on the 5th fret.

Then, move 3 frets up on the same string to land on the 8th fret. Start Scale pattern 1 from there.

As long as you stay “inside” Scale pattern 1, every note you play will sound good. Some better than others at times.

What if you wanted to play in B minor?

Find your “B” note (7th fret). Then slide your finger 3 frets up (to the 10th fret). Start Scale Pattern 1 there. How about playing with a “G Minor” backing track? Find your G note (3rd fret), move 3 frets up (to the 6th fret), then start Scale Pattern 1 from there.

That’s really it.

Go ahead and try to play along with a couple of “Minor Backing Tracks” now.

How To Get The Most From This Lesson…

Congratulations, you did it! You made it to the end, and you now have the knowledge to improvise and sound good in any key!

Let’s recap everything you now know and know how to do: 1. You know where the natural notes are on the low E string 2. You’ve memorized and played Scale Pattern 1, and can slide it around to different areas of the fretboard. 3. You know where to start Scale Pattern 1 to play in any Major Key 4. And you know where to start Scale Pattern 1 to play in any Minor Key

You should celebrate! You can now improvise in any Major or Minor key!

So what should you do now?

Go do it more to have fun and practice!

I encourage you to explore different backing tracks. You can even improvise to songs you already know.

Here’s how.

How to improvise along with your favorite songs. At this point, all you need to know to be able to improvise with a song is to know what key the song is in.

So how do you find that? The easy way. Google it!

For any song you want to play along with, just Google: “What key is [song name] in”. Simple or what?

I also encourage you to look up and improvise over different “styles” of backing tracks - country, blues, rock, indie, etc. - because you now know how to improvise in any key!

A Note About Creating Your Own Solos

You may quickly find when playing along with backing tracks that no amazing solos will magically appear out of thin air.

Of course not, right? It will take some getting used to.

What you’ll find is that all of the notes in the scale pattern sound reasonably good. In other words, they all “go” with the music.

Some of them may sound better to you than others - especially at certain times.

It’s your job to listen to which notes sound best to you and try to play those notes the way you want to hear them.

And that’s the exciting part, because if you can “hear” it in your head, with a little practice you can play it!

To sound good when playing along with any song or track, all you have to do is get good at “listening” to what you hear in your head, and then matching those sounds with your fingers.

This is a skill and it takes practice - but lucky for you, it’s fun!

This is exactly what the pros are doing when they solo and sound so good…

…And believe it or not, they are using the exact same notes you just learned. Really!

Now, your task is to learn (through experience of practicing your improvising) how to “maneuver” those same notes with your fingers to turn them into music you like to hear.

How To Get The Most From What You Just Learned To sum it up in one word…

Explore.

Try stuff.

Don’t be afraid of making “mistakes”.

As long as you play the notes in the scale pattern, you will sound good - especially to anyone listening to you - even if you don’t think so at first.

Also, make sure you play in different keys. Pick different backing tracks. Play with different styles of music.

You can do all of that now. Isn’t that awesome?

The truth is, the more tracks you play with, the more times you play the scale, the more chances you take, the more keys you play in, the more “mistakes” you make, the better you will get. And I bet you will even impress yourself.

Will this really work with any song?

It will work with any song that is in either a Major or Minor key…

…Which is about 99.99% of all songs you’ve ever heard or will hear.

If you want to play along with a song you like but don’t know the key, just search on Google: “[song name] key”.

Sometimes songs are played in different keys than what is listed on Google. So it may sound “wrong” when you try to play along with it. That’s ok. It happens.

You can either do more digging to find the right key or just try a different song.

You Did It! Let’s Wrap It Up…

I want to sincerely congratulate you for finishing this exercise. You’ve come along way. And I want to thank you for joining me.

You can now know something that most guitar players spend years trying to figure out.

If you practice this material and truly have fun with it, enjoy it, and explore, you’ll start sounding pro in no time, and you absolutely will impress your friends and family.

Most importantly, you’ll see the guitar like you never have before. And I can assure you, it only gets easier and more fun.

So what about the rest of the fretboard? As I mentioned, this lesson is just the beginning of being able to freely explore the entire fretboard. It’s a window into what’s possible for you.

If you’d like to be able to freely improvise all across the fretboard (and not just in one area), play by ear, and even write your own songs, go to BreakthroughGuitar.com to get started.

So what did you think? Success story? “AHA” moment? I’d love to hear your feedback. You can email me directly at [email protected]…

When you’re ready to discover the rest of the fretboard and get a bulletproof foundation for mastering the guitar, just head on over to BreakthroughGuitar.com. I’ll meet you there.

To your freedom on guitar,

Jonathan Boyd

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