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In this lesson, you’ll learn triad inversion shapes for C, F, and G chords on the GBE string set and use them to play the traditional song “Roll On Buddy” in the key of C.
Stash talks about his approach to the guitar neck and what you’ll be learning in Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery,
In the first series of lessons in Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery, Stash shows you how to find inversions of diatonic chords on two string sets, the DGB string set and GBE string set. You’ll learn triad inversion shapes for G, C, and D chords on the DGB string set and use them to play the traditional song “Lonesome Valley” in the key of G. You’ll also learn triad inversion shapes for C, F, and G chords on the GBE string set and use them to play the traditional song “Roll On Buddy” in the key of C.
In the first lesson on triads and inversions Stash begins by showing you the chromatic scale on the low A string, beginning with the open E string and moving up fret-by-fret to the 12th fret. Then he shows you the three different diatonic triad shapes for G, C, and D chords on the DGB string set and how to use them to play the traditional song “Lonesome Valley.” He also explains that these shapes are different inversions of a major triad, and how to find the three inversions up the neck for G, C, and D chords on the DGB string set.
In this lesson, you’ll learn triad inversion shapes for C, F, and G chords on the GBE string set and use them to play the traditional song “Roll On Buddy” in the key of C.
Stash shows you a great way to practice the triads and inversions you’ve learned in the previous lessons: crosspicking the triads. He starts by defining and demonstrating crosspicking and then shows you a 3–3–2 crosspicking pattern you can play on the DGB string-set triad shapes, which you can use to play “Lonesome Valley.” He also shows you two other crosspicking patterns: 3–2–3 and 2–3–3.
The major scale is the most used scale in bluegrass, old-time, and related music, so it’s good to really understand how it’s constructed. The major scale is made up of a sequence of whole steps (two frets) and half steps (1 fret) in this order: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half (wwhwwwh). Stash starts by showing you the G major scale all on the G string and then he gives you exercises to help you visualize the major scale, including exercises in octave displacement. He also shows you how to play the melody to the traditional hymn “Farther Along” in the key of C on one string.
In this lesson, you’ll learn the C major scale in open position. Stash also shows you how to analyze melodies according to their scale degrees and practice the scale while saying the names of the scale degrees. You’ll learn to play “Farther Along” in open position in two octaves.
Stash shows you the five most useful open-position scales on the guitar: G, C, D, A, and E. You’ve already learned open C, so Stash starts with the open-position G scale and then moves on to the other three. He also talks about internalizing the degrees of the scale as you practice them. You’ll also learn to play the old-time country song “Wabash Cannonball” in G position.
Stash shows you the diatonic triads in the major scale, sometimes known as the harmonized major scale. He shows you how to create minor and diminished triads by modifying the major triad, and then shows you which kinds of triads correspond to each step of the major scale. He also shows you how to use these triads to play Norman Blake’s “Ginseng Sullivan” on the GBE string set in the key of D.
Stash shows you how to harmonize “In the Pines” with triads in this lesson. He starts by showing you the melody to “In the Pines” on the high E string and then, whenever a note of the melody is a chord tone, he harmonizes it with a triad on the GBE string set.
In this lesson, Stash shows you how to play the harmonized version of “In the Pines” with a crosspicking pattern. He simplifies the melody to “In the Pines” by just playing the melody notes that are on the first beat of the measure, and fills out the rest of the measure with crosspicking.
In this lesson, Stash gives you a couple of exercises to practice voice leading diatonic triads. He uses the song “Ginseng Sullivan,” which you previously learned in the key of D, but in this lesson you’ll learn it in E. Stash starts by walking you through the diatonic triads in the key of E on the DBG string set. Then he gives you two exercises: voice leading up and voice leading down using the chords to “Ginseng Sullivan.”
In this lesson, Stash introduces you to non-diatonic triads: a series of chords that deviates to some degree from the diatonic triad series of major (I), minor (ii), minor (iii), major (IV), major (V), minor (vi), and diminished (vii). Stash shows you the chord progression for the Louvin Brothers song “I Love You the Best of All,” which includes II, III, and VI major chords, and shows you how to voice-lead triads through the progression on the DGB string set.
In previous lessons you’ve learned triad shapes on the GBE and DGB strings sets. In this lesson you’ll learn the triads on the remaining two string sets: ADG and EAD. Stash uses the song “Columbus Stockade Blues” in the key of G to show you triads on these string sets. He starts by showing you chords on the ADG string set in three zones on the neck.
