See the entire fretboard with Chordacus
Barre chords and pentatonic scales all over the fret board
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Chordacus in the course
Chordacus is a software tool that you can use to see chords and scales in different keys and shapes on the guitar fret board.
All chords and scales have the same color coordination system in order for you to learn and remember the shapes as easily as possible.
During the intermediate course, you learn all your barre chord shapes. This is when Chordacus starts to become useful as it can move them to different keys and shapes.
We also study the pentatonic scales. When you learn these you will still see the barre chord shape inside the scale shape.
This will help you visualize and understand how musical harmony actually works on the guitar fret board.
Find out more about what the scales you learn in the course look like in Chordacus by following the links below.
C Major Pentatonic scale – E shape
Major Pentatonic in Chordacus
Let’s start with looking at the E shaped barre chord and how it is developed into an E-shaped Major Pentatonic.
- Chord notes (Root, minor 3rd, 5th) are red
- Notes from the Major Pentatonic (2nd, 6th) are yellow
C Minor Pentatonic scale – Em shape
Minor Pentatonic in Chordacus
Here we can see the Em barre chord shape and how it is developed into an Em shaped Minor Pentatonic.
- Chord notes (Root, minor 3rd, 5th) are red
- Notes from the Minor Pentatonic are blue
Cm Blues scale – Em shape
The Blues scale in Chordacus
Add a b5 to the Minor Pentatonic and you get the Blues scale.
- Chord notes (Root, minor 3rd, 5th) are red
- Notes from the Minor Pentatonic are blue
- The b5 is dark blue
Cm Conspirian scale – Em shape
Conspirian in Chordacus
By adding a maj7 to the Blues scale we get the Conspirian scale.
- Notes from the Minor Pentatonic are blue
- The b5 is dark blue
- The maj7 is turquoise
Related Pages
Exercises
All those open position chords you learned in the beginner course now become barre chords and pentatonic scales.
We’ll use this to map out the entire fret board. Everything becomes easier to visualize once this foundation is laid.
Go to Intermediate guitar exercises.
Acoustic Course
Learning how to play guitar is best done through playing and learning from songs.
The intermediate songs require you to learn barre chords and pentatonic scales. This will be revolutionary for your understanding of the guitar fret board.
Go to Intermediate guitar course.
Intermediate Acoustic Songs
You can learn how to play these intermediate songs on the acoustic guitar.
A Change Is Gonna Come, American Pie, Angie, Babylon, Blowin’ In The Wind, Dreadlock Holiday, Fast Car, Hey There Delilah, I Can’t Stand The Rain, I’m Yours, Kiss Me, Mad World, Red, Starman, Sunny Afternoon, and Whistle For The Choir.
Go to Intermediate acoustic songs.
Electric Course
Learning how to play guitar is best done through playing and learning from songs.
These Motown/Soul songs require you to learn how to play fractions of barre chord shapes and build improvised licks using pentatonic scales.
Go to Intermediate electric guitar course.
Intermediate Electric Songs
You can learn how to play these intermediate songs on the electric guitar.
Be My Baby, Can I Get A Witness, Get Ready, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Jimmy Mack, Master Blaster (Jammin’), Money (That’s What I Want), My Guy, Rescue Me, Respect, Son Of A Preacher Man, Soul Man, and You Can’t Hurry Love.
Go to Intermediate electric songs.
Sign Up
A monthly subscription with access to all acoustic and electric step by step lessons, each one designed to bring your guitar playing skills to the next level.
Including detailed, but bite-sized explanations on how the music theory of each song is applied to the neck.
Go to Monthly subscription.