The Key Of G Major Guitar Lesson
The Key Of G Major
Mark explores the key of G major in this lesson. He covers the first position pattern of the scale and explains how it can be harmonized in thirds. These concepts are applied to Bach's famous "Minuet in G Major."
Taught by Mark Brennan in Basic Electric Guitar seriesLength: 33:22Difficulty: 1.5 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Basic Electric Guitar
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsMark's Phase 1 series will take you through the basics of playing electric guitar.
Lesson 1
Series Intro - Guitar Parts and Tuning
Mark introduces his Phase 1 series and covers some fundamental electric guitar basics.
Length: 30:12 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Amplification
Mark provides a detailed overview of amplification. This lesson has some great info for any electric player.
Length: 33:55 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Using Tablature and Learning the Fretboard
Before we start rocking, Mark goes over some tools and training necessary to every beginning guitarist.
Length: 12:52 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Right Hand Technique
It's time to get some sound out of your guitar. Mark begins with picking hand technique.
Length: 31:34 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Left Hand Technique
Mark explains proper left hand technique from the ground up.
Length: 10:36 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Natural Notes in the 1st Position
Mark teaches you all of the natural notes played in first position. He uses two classic melodies to supplement this information.
Length: 25:42 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The C major Scale - 1st Position
It's time to learn your first scale - the C major scale in first position. Mark also explains how the major scale is constructed.
Length: 21:31 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Chords in C major - Part 1
Mark covers 7 basic chords in the key of C major.
Length: 35:14 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Chords in C major - Part 2
Mark expands on chords in C major by showing full forms of the chords you learned in Part 1. He also teaches you the chord progression to a familiar tune.
Length: 25:00 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Power Chord Primer
It's time to start making some noise by using power chords and palm muting. Mark gives you the framework to start rocking the 12 bar blues in a basic I-IV-V progression.
Length: 36:43 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 11
Open Position Minor Pentatonic
Take your knowledge of the notes in the first position and start jamming on a simple pentatonic riff.
Length: 14:34 Difficulty: 1.0 FREE
Blues Scale Basics with Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, and Vibrato
Let's build on lesson 11 with an extended discussion of the pentatonic scale. For lesson 12, we'll simply add one note to the pentatonic scale to give us the famous blues scale. We'll also discuss new...
Length: 36:27 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Movable Power Chords
Mark explains how to finger power chords and how they can be moved anywhere on the fretboard. He also shows an exercise that will help you remember the name of each power chord.
Length: 16:28 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Rhythmic Notation Part 1
Mark Brennan explains rhythmic notation, tempos, time signatures, note values, and more in this lesson.
Length: 32:14 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
The Key Of G Major
Mark explores the key of G major in this lesson. He covers the first position pattern of the scale and explains how it can be harmonized in thirds.
Length: 33:22 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Chords Of G Major
Mark teaches the basic chords of G major as well as some other exercises to get you acquainted with this key.
Length: 34:28 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Key Of D Major
Mark explains the basics of D major.
Length: 25:00 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Chords In D Major
Mark takes you through the chords of D major and explains some new ones that you haven't encountered yet.
Length: 35:00 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
More Movable Power Chords & The Circle Of Fifths
Mark continues his discussion of power chords. This time around, he explains the circle of 5ths and demonstrates some power chord progressions that illustrate this concept.
Length: 33:18 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Movable Minor Pentatonic Scale
Mark teaches the 1st box of the minor pentatonic scale.
Length: 32:31 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
The Minor Blues Scale Transposed To A
Mark explains how you can transpose the pentatonic pattern covered in lesson 20 to the key of A minor. He also shows the "lower extension box" and "home plate box."
Length: 26:09 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Blues Boogie Shuffle
Mark teaches the difference between straight eighth notes and the shuffle feel.
Length: 42:33 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Amplification Part Two
In response to member requests, Mark added another amplification lesson to his growing phase 1 series. In this lesson, he compares 3 classes of amps from entry level models all the way to a Mesa Mark V.
Length: 40:45 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Introduction To Improvisation
In this lesson, Mark teaches some blues licks that can be used when improvising over a 12 bar blues progression.
Length: 24:01 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
The Key Of A Minor
Mark covers the key of A minor.
Length: 29:36 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
About Mark Brennan
View Full Biography
Mark Brennan, born August 12th, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio, began playing guitar at the age of 10. His first influences were from the Ventures and the British Invasion, especially the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Shortly afterwards he was playing in rock bands with his brother on drums, developing his ear by learning songs straight from records. Playing in a band became a passion.
In high school, he grew to love acoustic and classical guitar. He spent time playing acoustic music, influenced by The Eagles, CSN, Dan Folgelberg, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, etc. In the 70's, he headed a very popular Cleveland band, The Brennan-Cosma Band, which played a variety of acoustic and rock music, along with originals. He also took up classicalguitar, and began developing his fingerstyle technique.
Mark is a graduate of Cleveland State University (1980), with a Bachelor of Music in Classical guitar performance. He also studied Music Composition, and took many Music Education classes. After graduation, he began his private teaching career, teaching electric, acoustic, and classical guitar, along with music theory. He taught in various studios and guitar shops throughout his career, and currently has a private practice at his home in
Fairview Park, Ohio.
In the 80's Mark took an affection to Progressive rock. With his band Polyphony, he was influenced by the music of Yes, Genesis, Kansas, ELP, Styx, along with a set of prog rock originals.
Currently, Mark is in the regionally successful Pink Floyd tribute band Wish You Were Here. The band performs faithful renderings of the Floyd classics spanning their entire catalog, along with a strong visual stage show. Here, Mark displays his command of the David Gilmour style.
Mark is excited to be part of JamPlay.com's fine roster of teachers. He's looking forward to extending his 35 years of performing and teaching experience to the JamPlay members. His philosophy is about developing a passion for guitar and being the best musician you can be; being true to yourself and developing a personal style, and truly expressing your heart through your music.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.i'm a little confused w/ some of the choices you make when moving through the G major in 3rds. it's fine if i move straight into the ascending by playing A,G,E,F#,D...? Also, when we get to the bottom i was surprised and thought it'd get turned around w/ C,A,B,G,A,F#,G,E,F#,A,G,B,A... more similar to the progression when you taught the C major in 3rds.
Hi Mark The first time I learned this scale it was played on all fretted notes between the second and fifth frets. No open strings. It started on the root note G and worked up to the fifth fret on the first string and back down. Three notes on all the strings except two on the second. What's the difference?
Hi Mark The first time I learned this scale it was played on all fretted notes between the second and fifth frets. No open strings. It started on the root note G and worked up to the fifth fret on the first string and back down. Three notes on all the strings except two on the second. What's the difference?
Hi Mark, maybe I missed, what is the different and meaning between major and minor ?
But where is the supplement of the music you played the Minuet Notation
Great lesson! I've been playing for almost 2 years and I've never been able to play something so cool and fancy like this minuet. Thanks!
dont know why your on the 5th fret on the first string on page 1 of the notes.
I'm using the fifth fret A note to round out the ascending thirds. It's the second note of the G Major scale, so it works.
Mark, I don't see the tab for minuet...is it just me or is it not there? BTW, I am having a blast with your lessons and learning a ton! Great stuff!
oops...never mind :)
mark, would it be right to assume that the most popularl major scales used would be in c,d,e and g.
when you constructed the G scale it went G,A,B,C,D,E then f sharp. But then when you did the chord progressions the A and B had become minors, and there was a D7 in there too. Why ? How does that happen ? (apols, I have as much knowledge of music theory as a gnat, and that's doing an injustice to the gnat !)
hey John....the chords that are built off the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th scale tones in a major key are minor. In this case, a min, b min, and e min. If you've watched my lessons in C major and D major, this is also the case. In Cmajor these chords are d min, e min, and a min, and in the key of D Major they're e min, F#min, and b min. I don't want to get into chord construction now, or we would open a can of worms. As far as the D7 is concerned...this is the dominant 7 chord built off the fifth scale tone (D). If you noticed i haven't included the chord built off the 7th scale tone, which is a diminished chord. In G major that would be F#dim (F# A C). These are the top three notes of a D7 chord (D F# A C). So the diminished chord, built off the 7th scale tone in a major key, becomes a function of the dominant seventh chord in the same key. Hope this sheds some light on the subject and answers your question.....Mark B.
Another great lesson thanks! I'm learning so much watching this series. One small detail though, the Minuet Notation, the F line does not have the Sharp on it, but most everyone will figure it out, I think :) Thanks keep the lessons coming.
Thanks for pointing this out Aaron. Forgot to put the key signature on the music for the Minuet....I'll make the correction on Guitar Pro...Mark B.
Guitar Pro puts the key signature at the beginning of the tab, and it won't put it in again unless you change the key.. Since the complete supplemental material in the lesson is in key of G, it only appears at the begiinning....but needless to say, the Minuet is in G major.
This is fantastic, I've just learned a classical version of this Menuet from Danny Voris' series, now it'll be great to learn another version for an electric guitar. Thanks!!
but it does....take another look