Mark Brennan

Mark Brennan

Mark is a Guitar instructor at JamPlay.com

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... (more)

Mark currently offers 46 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 29 beginner lessons, 11 song lessons, 4 Lick & Riff Library entries and 2 entertainment videos.

Beginning Blues

New to guitar and love the blues? This course is perfect for you!

1

Series Intro - Guitar Parts and Tuning

Mark introduces his Phase 1 series and covers some fundamental electric guitar basics.

30:12 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

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2

Amplification

Mark provides a detailed overview of amplification. This lesson has some great info for any electric player.

33:55 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

3

Using Tablature and Learning the Fretboard

Before we start rocking, Mark goes over some tools and training necessary to every beginning guitarist.

12:52 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

4

Right Hand Technique

It's time to get some sound out of your guitar. Mark begins with picking hand technique.

31:34 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

5

Left Hand Technique

Mark explains proper left hand technique from the ground up.

10:36 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

6

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.

25:42 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

7

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.

21:31 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

8

Chords in C major - Part 1

Mark covers 7 basic chords in the key of C major.

35:14 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

9

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.

25:00 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

10

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 with the 12 bar blues progression.

36:43 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

11

Open Position Minor Pentatonic

Take your knowledge of the notes in the first position and start jamming on a simple pentatonic riff.

14:34 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

12

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 minor pentatonic scale to give us the famous minor blues scale. We'll also discuss new techniques to interject into your playing, including hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and vibrato.

36:27 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

13

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.

16:28 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

14

Rhythmic Notation Part 1

Mark Brennan explains rhythmic notation, tempos, time signatures, note values, and more in this lesson.

32:14 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

15

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.

33:22 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

16

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.

34:28 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

17

The Key of D Major

Mark explains the basics of D major.

25:00 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

18

Chords in D Major

Mark takes you through the chords of D major and explains some new ones that you haven't encountered yet.

35:00 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

19

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.

33:18 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

20

The Movable Minor Pentatonic Scale

Mark teaches the 1st box of the minor pentatonic scale.

32:31 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

21

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."

26:09 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

22

Blues Boogie Shuffle

Mark teaches the difference between straight eighth notes and the shuffle feel.

42:33 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

23

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.

40:45 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

24

Introduction To Improvisation

In this lesson, Mark teaches some blues licks that can be used when improvising over a 12 bar blues progression.

24:01 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

25

The Key of A Minor

Mark covers the key of A minor.

29:36 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

26

Two Movable Major Chord Forms

Mark teaches two movable major chord forms and gives many examples of how to practice playing them.

26:10 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

27

I-IV-V Progression Revisited

Mark Brennan shows you how to apply the chord forms learned in lesson 26 to a I-IV-V progression.

21:52 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

28

Movable Dominant 7th Chord Forms

Mark Brennan continues his teachings on movable chord forms. In this lesson he shows the dominant 7th chords and how to use them in a 12 bar blues progression.

19:49 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

29

Movable Minor and Minor 7th Chord Forms

Mark Brennan teaches these minor chord forms and how they are movable up and down the fretboard. He also shows how to use these chords in common progressions.

21:29 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

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