Chords for Paul Gilbert Guitar Lesson: Pentatonic Chicka

[N] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ One, [G] two, three, four! _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
Oh, the world would be such a better [B] place if people [C#] practiced their scales [G] like this. _ _ _
You know, I've been teaching a long time and I've heard people [C#m] practice scales forever,
and typically _ scales are practiced like this. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ And while you're doing [C#] it, you're thinking, someday I'm going to [Am] do it fast.
_ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ But to me, this [C#] leads to [A#] _ _ [B] a little bit of a dead end, [C] at least in rock and roll, where
the elements of rock and roll are so much about [A] power, hitting that note hard, and being
able to control the other strings.
[C#] And this exercise, [C] I think, is perfect for doing [C#] that, because in between each note,
_ [G] we have a [C#] chica.
And that chica requires us [F] to use this part of our hand [B] to block out those strings.
So you have to go between doing a single note _ and the chica. _ _
[A#] And you have to [D] change strings _ to the next note, _ and then we [B] do it in time. _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _
[A] _ This is really useful.
[D#] This is the stuff you can play in a song.
And by the way, these are the [B] early notes.
I'm not going to play the whole scale, but this is some of a pentatonic scale.
We'll get into that a lot more later, but I just want to give you the first few notes. _ _ _
[C] So we'll, let's look at these.
This is actually _ [D#]
the [F#] idea of playing them individually like this. _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ I will accept that at the very beginning, just as a visualization tool.
To be able to look at the [B] fretboard and [Am] know where your fingers go, and make a shape.
[D#m] And I'll use neck diagrams [B] or that sort of thing all the time, to just be able to visualize
where those notes are.
I can even sort [A#m] of see it in my mind.
You can [G] practice without a guitar that way.
You can go, okay, [B] this finger here, you can really see the shape of it.
[F#m] But as soon as you have that knowledge [C] of where the fingers go, _ _ _ _ _ _ I want to start making
those notes sound good.
And to do that, let's put [D] in a nice chicken. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Dm] _ _ [E] Now I'm also adding a little [C] bit of vibrato. _ _ _ _ _
_ Now that's a whole world, [G#] is [D#] vibrato.
And guitar is such a cool instrument [B] for vibrato.
[F] _
_ _ [F#] _ _ _ _ [C] And the way I'm doing that, _ the important [D#] part of your body [C] in this exercise is going
to be this joint on your first finger.
And I really [C#] recommend that you connect that to [Cm] the bottom of the neck.
[A#] And if [F] you have a classical guitar teacher, [A#] they're going to yell at you and say, no,
you can never do that, [A] that's forbidden.
_ [C#m]
[F] But for rock [A#] guitar, [E] it's fantastic.
[A#] _ You [D#] connect that [C#] to the bottom [D#] of the neck, [C#m] and then your finger connects to the [C] note,
_ and then your wrist _ is _ _ _ _ [C#] actually what moves the note.
[E] Your finger's sort of locked into [D#] place.
[Am] You're not moving it like that.
It's just [C#] locked, and then your wrist motion _ [D] makes your [C#] finger move. _ _ _
_ And your wrist is [F#] powerful.
Now, in this case, I'm pulling [C] down _ _ _ [F]
towards the ground.
[C#] And if you've never done this before, you might notice a [A#] new callus is building.
So you don't want blood or pain, just gradually [C] _ _ try bending that note [C#] around.
But that's a glorious [C] little moment on the top of this chicken scale. _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ Oh, that's a good [Am] note.
And I'll end back there.
Now, let's take a [Cm] look at the picking.
[D#] I'm doing down strokes for all the notes.
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[E] _ So that's going to [D#] be pretty easy, but those chicas are a down and [F#] an up.
So a little bit of strumming technique in there.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [G#] _ Oh, I love that.
I [C#] really think this is a great way to practice scales.
It keeps you in time.
And you can tap your foot to it. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
You can move your shoulders to it, _ _ _
_ [E] your head, your neck.
This will move an audience.
This really feels good.
You'll be able to [Em] use it in music almost immediately.
[B] And it's not just boring scale practice, it's music.
[G] So please try the pentatonic [A] scale with the chicas [F] and a little bit
of vibrato [C] _ _ with your wrist on top.
One, two, three, [D] four. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [C#] _ _ _ [D#] _
_ _ [C#] _ _ _ [A#] _ _ _