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 47 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 29 beginner lessons, 12 song lessons, 4 Lick & Riff Library entries and 2 entertainment videos.
Mark Brennan's contribution to JamPlay
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Basic Electric Guitar
Mark's Phase 1 series will take you through the basics of playing electric guitar.
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
Amplification
Mark provides a detailed overview of amplification. This lesson has some great info for any electric player.
33:55 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
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
Left Hand Technique
Mark explains proper left hand technique from the ground up.
10:36 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
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
Chords in C major - Part 1
Mark covers 7 basic chords in the key of C major.
35:14 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Key of D Major
Mark explains the basics of D major.
25:00 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
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
The Movable Minor Pentatonic Scale
Mark teaches the 1st box of the minor pentatonic scale.
32:31 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
Blues Boogie Shuffle
Mark teaches the difference between straight eighth notes and the shuffle feel.
42:33 Runtime
1.0 Difficulty
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
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
The Key of A Minor
Mark covers the key of A minor.
29:36 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
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
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
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
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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