
Mark's Phase 1 series will take you through the basics of playing electric guitar.
Lesson 1
Mark introduces his Phase 1 series and covers some fundamental electric guitar basics.
Length: 30:12 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
Mark provides a detailed overview of amplification. This lesson has some great info for any electric player.
Length: 33:55 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 3
Before we start rocking, Mark goes over some tools and training necessary to every beginning guitarist.
Length: 12:52 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 4
It's time to get some sound out of your guitar. Mark begins with picking hand technique.
Length: 31:34 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 5
Mark explains proper left hand technique from the ground up.
Length: 10:36 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 6
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 OnlyLesson 7
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 OnlyLesson 8
Mark covers 7 basic chords in the key of C major.
Length: 35:14 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 9
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 OnlyLesson 10
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
Take your knowledge of the notes in the first position and start jamming on a simple pentatonic riff.
Length: 14:34 Difficulty: 1.0 FREELesson 12
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 OnlyLesson 13
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 OnlyLesson 14
Mark Brennan explains rhythmic notation, tempos, time signatures, note values, and more in this lesson.
Length: 32:14 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 15
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 OnlyLesson 16
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 OnlyLesson 17
Mark explains the basics of D major.
Length: 25:00 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 18
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 OnlyLesson 19
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 OnlyLesson 20
Mark teaches the 1st box of the minor pentatonic scale.
Length: 32:31 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 21
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 OnlyLesson 22
Mark teaches the difference between straight eighth notes and the shuffle feel.
Length: 42:33 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 23
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 OnlyLesson 24
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 OnlyLesson 25
Mark covers the key of A minor.
Length: 29:36 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
About Mark Brennan
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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.
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Steve Eulberg does a quick review of this lesson series and talks about moving on.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJim Deeming discusses how to use a metronome for practice, skill building, and speed building.
Free LessonSeries DetailsPamela brings a cap to her first 13 JamPlay lessons with another original etude inspired by the great Leo Brouwer. This is...
Free LessonSeries DetailsNick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries DetailsErik expounds on the many possibilities of open tunings and the new harmonics that you can use in them. He explains what...
Free LessonSeries DetailsMark Nelson introduces "'Ulupalakua," a song he will be using to teach different skills and techniques. In this lesson, he...
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries DetailsLesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries DetailsOur electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
This is a crucial lesson that explains tablature, how to read it, and why it's important.
Free LessonSeries DetailsChris brings his ingenuity to this lesson on the American folk song called "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" Also known as...
Free LessonSeries DetailsEmil takes you through some techniques that he uses frequently in his style of playing. Topics include neck bending, percussive...
Free LessonSeries DetailsLisa breaks into the very basics of the electric guitar. She starts by explaining the parts of the guitar. Then, she dives...
Free LessonSeries DetailsAllen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries DetailsBrendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries DetailsNick explains how to use scales and modes effectively when soloing over a chord progression.
Free LessonSeries DetailsTosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLearn a handful of new blues techniques while learning to play Stevie Ray Vaughn's "The House Is Rockin'".
Free LessonSeries DetailsJames explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
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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.Like how you built this one up layer upon layer. Lot's of fun and challenges us beginners to push ourselves to the next step. Put a grin on my face, rolllll on Mark.
If you are doing a shuffle in B is it OK to stay in the Bm pentatonic scale (or Bm blues scale) during the full shuffle or "should" you move to the other scales when the 1 chord changes to the 4 and 5? Regards Peter.
The B minor blues scale will work fine for the whole 12 bar blues shuffle....just be careful of your choice of notes. Let your ear be your guide.
Thanks, looking forward to you next lessons on improvisation and choice of notes when soloing.
What a ridiculously fun lesson. I think I played with the shuffle for three hours straight. Keep em coming!
Great to see some new stuff Mark, i really enjoyed this lesson. Looking forward to the new ones I just hope they are much more frequent than they have been over the past year. Thanks again