Tired of Using Only a Small Portion of Your Fretboard?
Hi, I'm Jonathan, and I've helped thousands of guitar players not only unlock their guitar fretboards, but also discover how to unleash their own musical creativity!
Fact or MYTH?
"If I Can Just MEMORIZE The Whole Fretboard I'll Be On The Right Track"
I'll just come right out and say it: it's a myth that memorizing the fretboard is the first step to being able to use it fully. A lot of people get hung up right there, not even realizing it's possible to start playing all over the fretboard while you're still getting familiar with the notes!
It's ALSO a myth that memorization is the key to the the fretboard!
A lot of people struggle with their memories, and telling them to learn 6 strings x 20 notes = 120 notes is much like telling them to learn a page out of the phonebook off by heart!
Ain't nobody got time for that!
Approaching the fretboard by memorization alone can actually DAMAGE your ability to take full advantage of it!
When Chris came to me, he'd already taken two years of lessons from a local guitar teacher. In that time, he'd learned the C major scale in one position, and only one octave of it.
The rest of the fretboard - not to mention the other 11 keys - was still a complete mystery to him.
You see, taking the pure memorization approach had actually robbed him of the massive progress he could have had in those same two years.
When he saw other guitar players playing freely anywhere they wanted on the fretboard, it just didn't compute.
He asked "how long do I have to practice before I can play like that?"
Well, speaking from personal experience...
Just a few months after first picking up the guitar, I was trading solos with a friend.
I wasn't that great, but it didn't matter. I was soloing - like I'd dreamed of - and that's what counted most.
It was only a few months after I started playing guitar, but there I was, trading solos with a friend who had way more experience than I did.
He had more experience, but I had an ace up my sleeve.
I was taking guitar lessons, and my teacher had taught me how to move scales around the fretboard. My friend, quote, "didn't believe in scales."
That day his solos were admittedly better than mine. He tore into that guitar with a ferocity I could barely comprehend. He played faster than I did, and he had a few pretty cool licks too.
But his solos had one major problem...
He stumbled into so many sonic landmines - notes that clashed horribly with the key - that my cheeks grew a little tired from all the wincing!
My solos were slower than his, and less creative... but they didn't feature the same sonic landmines that his did.
Turns out, there was a really good reason for that...
I Had A System
Afterwards, we talked about our approaches, and that's when I learned my friend didn't believe he needed to learn scales.
After all, his solos were better than mine anyhow, right? In his mind, that meant that his approach was better too. His method involved relying on his ear to tell him how far away he thought the next note might be. Sometimes that worked well for him, and sometimes it didn't. Every time he soloed it was a fresh batch of trial and error.
It's hard to argue with someone who's mind is made up, so I just went home and kept on practicing my patterns.
Little did we both know how different our next jam would be...
The POWER of PATTERNS
The beautiful thing about the guitar is that when you invest the time and effort into teaching your fingers to play a particular scale pattern, there are a few major payoffs.
1
The first benefit is that the scale gives you all of the best-sounding notes for that key. Say goodbye to those sonic landmines - with scale patterns, you can have confidence that you won't be playing any horrible sounding notes!
2
The second benefit is that once you've learned a scale pattern, you can move it anywhere on the fretboard to play in any key you want to. You just can't do that with most instruments!
3
The final big win is muscle memory. As your fingers learn the pattern of good notes, they become faster and more accurate working within that pattern, benefiting every aspect of your playing.
What A Difference Scales Made!
A few months after that first jam - where my solos frankly, sucked - I had a chance to jam with that same friend one more time.
To both of our surprise, my solos were hugely improved, and noticeably better than his!
I never thought I could catch up to him so fast, let alone pass him, and he was just as surprised as I was.
At the time, I was still pretty wet behind the ears with my guitar playing, overall, and I didn't know many soloing techniques. There was only one thing I had going for me that he didn't...
I knew my scales.
And instead of learning tons of different modal patterns like most people teach, I zeroed in on just three patterns that gave me access to the entire fretboard.
With all of my practice energy going into those patterns, I made rapid progress.
The Fastest Way To Cover The Fretboard
When you first learned to read, did your teacher start you with an encyclopedia?
Of course not! You learned in smaller chunks, working up until you had the skill and attention span to deal with more challenging material.
When you're learning the fretboard, you need to use the same principle. Don't try to master the whole thing at the same time, you will be overwhelmed and make very slow progress.
Instead, start by understanding how the fretboard works... even if you don't know all the various patterns yet, if you can learn the system, then you will have a foundation that you can easily build upon later.
Then, start by learning a single scale pattern, and figuring out how to make it musical. As you become proficient with one pattern, add another, and then another.
Don't be discouraged by only knowing a portion of the fretboard - you're on the path to full fretboard knowledge, and that's what counts.
After all, the true goal is making music, not just knowing stuff about guitar, am I right?
I've Compressed THE ENTIRE SYSTEM Into A Single Course:
Guitar Scale Patterns
In my Guitar Scale Patterns course, you will find a concise, easy-to-learn system that will allow you to play in any key, anywhere across the fretboard.
It's short enough that you can do the whole thing in just one or two evenings, and yet powerful enough to literally transform the way you interact with your guitar forever.
- 1Learn a logical, powerful system for understanding the entire fretboard
- 2Discover the simple, repeating patterns that make memorization just about unnecessary
- 3Learn the essential patterns you need to play anywhere, in any key.
What People Are Saying About The Guitar Scale Patterns Course
“Old dogs can be taught new tricks"
Hi Jonathan - well, it took me a while but I finally made it thru both of your DVDs, “Unlocking I - IV - V, and Guitar Scale Patterns. I have been playing for over 40 years, and am something of an accomplished finger picker (Chet Atkins style) and while my favorite is country, I also enjoy playing some of the classical pieces by people like Mendelssohn, or Schubert, and to be honest I wasn’t certain I could learn much from a beginners course, but I felt it was worth a try.
Actually, I was wrong.
Old dogs can be taught new tricks, IF they are willing to admit they don’t know everything.
Having spent several hours with your material I was very pleased, and found quite a few tips which I’m sure will be helpful. In my opinion the good thing about your course is that it will help the raw beginner as well as the experienced player, especially with your emphasis on scales.
Chuck Kiger
- Florida, USA
“Thank you for making it possible, exciting, and fun to learn"
Jonathan: I just wanted to thank you and say how happy I am with your 1-4-5 and guitar scale patterns courses. I started playing guitar when I was 12 - almost 50 years ago - yikes - learned some chords and songs - but was never able to unlock the fret board. I knew a lot of piano theory, but could not extrapolate it to guitar. Never even understood that the fretboard is a bunch of semi-tones which makes the guitar easier than piano in some ways.
Anyway, I stopped playing for decades until this past year when I began to feel a craving for it, especially playing electric lead. I hunted around the internet for instruction - lots of good courses - but couldn't find the right thing for where I am now. My brain can only absorb so much. Eventually I stumbled on the pentatonic pattern and realized this was a piece of the puzzle. Fortunately I discovered your courses and am thrilled - it helps that for 1-4-5 I already understand on some level what we are dealing with - I discovered this pattern when I began, but there is a wealth of information to absorb and apply.
I didn't think I could learn scales and patterns on guitar - it seemed incomprehensible to me. You are a wonderful teacher and I am so happy to finally be learning how to play beyond the level where I stopped so long ago. Learning to integrate some theory with improvisation and expression is my dream and I wanted to thank you for making it possible, exciting, and fun to learn. I have taught subjects in the past that could be considered complicated systems, and so I recognize how artful you have made these courses. I hope you will bring out more of them, although one could review these over and over and keep learning. Please feel free to use this as a testimonial if you want to.
Sandra Herkowitz
“I actually sound half-decent now!"
Hi mate, I have received the DVDs (I bought both I, IV, V and scale patterns), both have been extremely helpful. I have played guitar for about 7-8 years but had always been happy to just bang out the pub's favorite tunes playing rhythm.
I knew the basic pentatonic scale but wasn't interested in playing lead - to be honest the fret board was a bit too intimidating. That has all now changed. I "get" the fret board and for the first time I really appreciate how cool an instrument the guitar really is!
When watching your DVD I thought I knew pretty much everything you were talking about but listened anyway. What I learned was that I didn't actually know it - I'd heard others talk about it and thought I knew. Now I can join in the conversation and more importantly I can join in the jam!!!
Yesterday my wife (a singer) came into the living room and said "you actually sound half decent now!"
Simply awesome! Thanks heaps.
Steve Hinks
- New South Wales, Australia
Are You Ready To Finally UNLOCK Your Fretboard?
The Guitar Scale Patterns course will give you a single, unified way of approaching the fretboard. You will learn patterns that allow you to play in any musical key you wish. You will discover how to move patterns, connect one to another, and even how to build your own connecting sequences. You will never look at your fretboard the same way again!
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More Success Stories
“Improving faster than I ever thought possible"
I have been struggling with the theory aspect of guitar for almost 40 years now.
For the first time in my life, I am starting to make sense of the scales, chords, modes, intervals and how they all relate to one another and work together to make music a fun and enjoyable experience once again.
I have never considered myself to be a person of inferior intelligence, but the confusion that I had with these concepts has led to an endless amount of frustration on my part.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together, and explain it in a way that the average person can understand.
For the first time in my life, every aspect of my playing is improving faster than I ever thought was possible.
Dave Wedra
- South Carolina, USA
“You broke down the mysterious fretboard and made it easy"
Where were you when I wanted to learn to play the guitar forty years ago? I know, you weren't alive. Previous instructors made the process hard, or maybe it was my attention span.
Either way, I've come farther in two months now that I understand the patterns than I did in many years of trying, getting frustrated, and quitting. You broke down the mysterious fretboard and made learning easy.
At fifty five, a great regret was never learning to play the guitar. Because of you and your program I am on the way to erasing that regret from my life. This may sound overstated, but I assure you, it is not.
Thomas Hill
“Helped me understand exactly what is going on"
I have watched your DVD's and I found them very helpful. I'm almost 65 years old and have been strumming the guitar since I was about 14 years old. I'm mostly self-taught with a few instructions from family members who play, but never any formal training.
Your lessons have helped me understand exactly what is going on with the fret board and where to find my notes. Although my fingers don't work as well as they did when I was young, I still enjoy trying to play my favourite tunes.
Keep up the good work. Wish I would have had you around 50 years ago. Thanks again.
Jerry Matney
“One earthshaking discovery"
Hey Jonathan, just wanted to thank you for a few "new" ideas I picked up from your scale course and one earthshaking discovery that linked together stuff I've been doing for over 40 years playing around on the guitar.
Mark Hintz
Jonathan Boettcher
Founder of PlayGuitar.com
About the Author
As a child, Jonathan experienced the "monkey see, monkey do" method of learning music, and hated it! Copying and memorizing was simply not that much fun.
Later on, he discovered how music theory offered a practical understanding for everything that happens in music. These principles not only unleashed his own creativity, they have allowed thousands of other guitar players to find their own unique musical personalities as well.
Jonathan released the first edition of his Guitar Scale Patterns course in 2010. Since then, the course has enabled thousands of guitar players around the world to achieve the breakthroughs they're looking for.
More Success Stories
“The best investment in music I've ever made"
Hi Jonathan,
This is becoming a habit, but I find myself writing to say Thank You, for the second time in as many weeks, for the knowledge I've gained from you. I received my copy of your 'Guitar Scale Patterns' DVD, just this morning, and, amazingly, within 15 mins of watching the first lesson, I know the formula for Major & Minor scales and was able to correctly work out and play several scales.
If the rest of this course is as informative as this it'll be the best investment in music I've ever made. I don't know if it's what you teach, how you teach or both, but I learn more from you quickly than I've learnt from anyone else. Perhaps it's that you employ common sense instead of showing off what YOU can do (which a lot of 'teachers' do)? Whatever it is I'm bloody well thankful I found a teacher who teaches.
Can't wait to get on with the rest of the DVD.
David G. Hope
“Worked better than all the books I've bought previously"
Just thought to drop a quick reference of Jonathan’s courses for anyone thinking of investing in them to improve their playing and deepen their guitar playing experience.
You know, I’ve bought all kinds of books that teach basic theory and riff examples for guitar in the past. They had their value for sure, but the two things I’ve bought from Jonathan gave me a leg up on creating and interpreting music; they've worked better for me than all the books I’ve bought previously combined. One four five, and guitar patterns. Very simple yet really effective for enjoying and understanding the guitar.
Jonathan is not a rip off artist looking to capitalize on the guitarist who longs to improve and deepen their guitar fretboard flexibility. His courses are inexpensive but really all you need. He understands that a very basic but thorough understanding of guitar theory is needed to enjoy one’s guitar experience.
Thanks Jonathan. You’ve really helped me out by giving me the tools to launch my creativity and bolster my confidence. You’re an honest man.
Bernard Fram
“I am definitely digging your approach!"
To say these lessons have improved both my rhythm and lead playing would be a huge understatement!!!
You present the material in a way that makes it easy to understand and, most importantly, to apply to playing no matter what key.
Kudos, Jonathan!!!!!
I am a clinical instructor for medical students and use a very similar approach both simplifying concepts and teaching mechanisms (of disease, in my case) that can be applied to many clinical scenarios! I am definitely digging your approach!
Dave McCarron
“My guitar playing has drastically changed"
Hey Jonathan,
Every time I saw your advertisement on the internet I was skeptical. Having seen so many of these before always promising to drastically improve my guitar playing.
I figured I could learn to solo on my own so I started learning as many licks as I could however this did not improve my ability. After getting very frustrated and almost giving up on it, my buddy asked me if I had heard of your Guitar Scale Patterns course. Since I had seen the advertisements and my friend asking me about it I decided before giving up on it I would see what this lesson had to say.
WOW Jonathan!
I can't tell you how impressed I am. You are a great teacher. My guitar playing really has drastically changed. I can do an improv solo to just about any song my friends are playing now. I never thought I would be able to do that. My only thing now is trying to get faster, but I guess that will come in time. You are an amazing guitar player and I thank you so very much for all you do.
Dan Shuck
“It's hard to put a price on what I learned"
I have been playing guitar for over 40 years and after 30 minutes of watching the Guitar Scale Patterns video I learned something that is hard to put a price on.
You guys know what I mean!
It's like someone opening your eyes to something you have been trying to see for a long time.
If you're into learning the fretboard and wanting to play all over the neck, just buy this.
You will not regret it.
Wendy Colson
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100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Your success with my guitar lessons is completely guaranteed. In fact, I guarantee the Guitar Scale Patterns course will greatly increase your understanding of the fretboard. If you go through the course, and feel that you haven't learned anything, just let us know within 60 days and we'll send you a prompt refund.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need the DVD version?
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Is this course suitable for beginners?
I've played for years, will I learn anything?
Will this course teach me to solo?
P.S.: The Guitar Scale Patterns course contains a logical, powerful system for understanding the entire fretboard. You will learn how to play anywhere on the fretboard, in any key.
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