Piano ~ Organ ~ Horns Workshop
This is a relatively easy workshop! As in, the "steps" are easy. This page
NEW ADDITION!
I just posted a brief, quick read tutorial on Pentatonics.
Starting from Day 1, you will work on EACH of the 5 Audio Drill Tracks.
When you start messing up, STOP the track, and start it again from the
I won't cover much peripheral info in this workshop. Things like
Track 1: 1 AmP5P Drills POS 1 A 6m3s.MP3
What you're learning is . . . THE PATTERNS! Position 1 is:
All tracks start like this: There is a "Count In". 1 2 . 1 2 3 4
When you mess up, STOP! Start the track again. Do this 3 times.
Play Position 2 exactly the same way! But this time, start
When you mess up, STOP! Start the track again. Do this 3 times.
Play Position 3 exactly the same way! But start with note 3, D.
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There are workshops here covering many music topics. Many will focus on guitar and
This is an easy to follow "soup to nutz" overview of the whole shebang!
Then keep going!
Hope you found this interesting. If you did, please feel welcome
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walks you through how the workshop is formatted. IE: The instructions!
But before we get started . . .
It briefly covers what they are, and how you use them over any chord or
chord progression! Click over, read it. It takes all of a few minutes!
Pentatonic Tutorial
1). Go through this entire page ONCE! Do ALL of the exercises ONCE! Just to
get familliar with the format! This is a WORKSHOP! You'll be spending 10, 15,
or more minutes per practice session on this. Right before each regular
practice session. So . . . DEDICATE 30 minutes NOW to your future success!
Once you go through it one time, there is a link to a
NEW Directory page! It will keep each section organized!
You'll also have an option to downloard each part if you'd rather work
from PC files! So commit 30 minutes now! Or come back! It's best to go
through this entire page in one sitting! It PLANTS SEEDS!
2). This isn't a theory based workshop! It's mostly HANDS ON!
I'll post a Pentatonic Theory Tutorial in the near future.
OK, on with the show! HERE WE GO!
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A Pentatonic Scale is simply a scale with 5 notes. Pentatonic literally
means "5 tones", or 5 notes.
In this workshop, we'll focus on the main scales used in Rock, Blues,
Country, and all basic music generes. The Minor Pentatonic Scale. These
same 5 shapes, or positions, are both Major and Minor! It just depends
on which note you start the scale!
Am penta is A C D E G. C Major is C D E G A!
EX: An A minor Penta scale is also a C Major Penta Scale, if you play
from the 2nd note, skipping the 1st A. C D E G A
The reason we play the Penta scales is because we skip the 2 notes in
the major scale that often "clash" with our chord changes. Making it
just about impossible to hit a wrong note!
What are the positions? You play the 5 notes, starting with the 1st
note of the scale. In this case, A. A C D E G A. This is 1st position.
Position 2 plays the same notes, but starts on the 2nd note of the scale.
C, C D E G A C. 3rd position starts on the 3rd note, D, D E G A C D.
Same for the other 2 positions. You start on the E and G notes.
DON'T PANIC! The charts will make this easy to understand!
Just play A C D E G from different start points!
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For the next 90 days, do this Workshop as your Daily Practice Session
WARM UP! After you finish the following exercises, move on to your
regular practice session. BUT DO THESE FIRST!
You do each of the tracks the same way!
You start (obviously!) with Track 1. Start the track, and play along with it
UNTIL IT GETS TOO FAST for you to play accurately!
DO NOT practice SLOPPY!
beginning! DO THIS 3 TIMES! Then go to Track 2.
It doesn't matter how far you get each day! If you can't get past playing
more than once or twice before messing up, THAT ISN'T A PROBLEM! If you
could, you wouldn't need the workshop! Just go as far as you can. You'll
progress
farther, daily! Each track is a different Pentatonic Position. IE: Track 1 is Position 1.
The objective is to be able to eventually play all 5 tracks, to the end,
without much, if any difficulty! Smoothly, accurately! It's gonna take time!
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proper posture, playing technique, etc. Or much theory around the
Pentatonic subject. Most of that is covered in tutorials.
Day 1: The Warm Up
A C D E G, Up, then back down. REPEAT.
NOTE: The octave where you start isn't of major importance.
I suggest either the "A" right before Middle C, or the "A" after
Middle C. Which ever is easier for you. You'll be moving up a bit
more than 2 octaves by the time you get through Position 5.
Use your thumb for A, index finger for C, middle finger for D, ring
finger for E, and pinky for G. This finger positioning helps in playing
the scale smoothly.
Practice playing the scale ascending A C D E G and then descending G E D C A
to get comfortable with the finger movements. (Do it a few times now)
The next 6 minutes is going to change your life! IF . . . if you want it to!
This goes from "boring" to "grueling" fast! Stick with it. It's a KILLER warm up!
Play the 2 patterns below two times.
Now play 2 octaves.
Then play the same patterns, but up one octave. Then REPEAT over and over!
The tempo increases each iteration! Start over when it gets too fast. You'll
get farther each time you work it! This is a warm up when you get to "Part 1".
It looks like this . . .
Day 1: Part 1
Then you play half notes, up the scale. You'll hear the scale being
played! Each time you play the scale, the tempo increases slightly.
Position 1, A C D E G A C D E G A C A HOLD 1 2 3 4
THEN BACK DOWN . . .
C A G E D C A G E D C A A HOLD 1 2 3 4.
Then, just repeat the scale, this time a bit faster. The count in,
in between each set will be at the faster tempo.
NOTE: JUST DO IT ONCE OR TWICE NOW! The "Part 1" page
skips the above verbiage! You'll go there next!
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on the 2nd note, C. C D E G A C D E G A C D C
Position 2
C D E G A C D E G A C D C HOLD 1 2 3 4 THEN BACK DOWN . . .
D C A G E D C A G E D C C HOLD 1 2 3 4.
Then, just repeat the scale, this time a bit faster. The count in,
in between each set will be at the faster tempo.
(ONCE OR TWICE FOR NOW!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
D E G A C D E G A C D E D HOLD 1 2 3 4 THEN BACK DOWN . . .
E D C A G E D C A G E D D HOLD 1 2 3 4.
OK, now you know how the workshop, um, WORKS! The link below will
take you to a page with it all organized for the 6 parts of the workshop:
Part 1: Learn'm! Each scale/position in a separate audio file.
Part 2: Drill'm! All positions together and in different patterns.
Part 3: Play'm with Jam Tracks! Making solos.
Part 4: JAM TRACKS! 49 chart busters to practice with!
Part 5: Setting up the workshop to run offline - on Auto-Pilot!
Part 6: DOWNLOADS! Download ALL files, backing tracks, drill tracks,
and graphics!
You might not like this next suggestion! I suggest you scroll back to
the top, and do this entire intro, read it, and do it all again, one
more time! So it all sinks in!
There isn't nearly as much text/instructions in the actual workshop!
Mostly charts with the DRILL audios. Up to you.
OK, click here to go to the actual workshop! . . .
Pentatonic Piano ~ Organ ~ Horns Master Class Workshop
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harmonica. But many others will cover topics for ALL musicians who want to improve
their skills. AND improve their backing tracks!
Enjoy! Wayne
The start of becoming better starts by doing the things
you skipped, or started and didn't finish! So start here!
But THIS TIME . . . FINISH IT!!!
~ You need to read this! ~
Theory 101 Overview
How chords are made. How to build a killer chord progression! How to
spice up your Blues progressions! All the things you get frustrated about
because it doesn't make sense! It will, just by reading this tutorial!
~ So . . . do it RIGHT NOW! ~
Do the workshops!
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Email me any time! ~/~
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