This next little exercise is something called playing sixes. Now I use this an
awful lot in my own playing, particularly if I'm worship leading or if I'm playing
a worship band. Really what it is is a little trick you can use and you can
throw it in any key and it sounds kind of really pretty and fits across as a
lead guitar exercise to so many different songs. What I mean by playing in
sixes is you're playing two separate notes on the guitar which are six
separate notes apart in the same key. So let me give you an idea. So if I'm playing
these two notes so that is a B and that's a G and there's six notes apart so B
C D E F G six notes apart and what we're going to be doing we're going to be
taking two notes in the same key that always six notes apart to play over the
chords in any major key. Now there are two rules for doing this. Really what
you have when you're playing these notes if you think about the chords
contained within a key so we've already examined some of the major minor minor
major major chords. If you think about those and think about the first chord in
your sequence so the first chord is a major chord. If we're starting saying the
key of G so we've got these two notes here so G is our first note so we've got
B and G. Now for the major chords what we've got is a shape here where you're
really like one fret apart so this finger is on fret three this finger is on
fret number four and the key of G on next chord up is a minor so wherever you
see a minor chord shape you play two notes on strings one and three that are
on the same fret. So far in the key of G what we have if you play these two
notes so G and B so fingers 1 and 2 and then you go to fingers 2 and 3. So when
you're playing with the minor chord shape use fingers 2 and 3 at all times.
Now the next chord in the key of G for instance is the chord of B minor so what
we do we play the B note there and we've got D and B so remember the six notes
apart so D E F G A B six notes apart and that's a minor chord. The next chord in
the key of G to demonstrate is the chord of C so that's a major chord so we use
the shape where it's one fret apart so index finger on fret eight second finger
on fret number nine next chord D major so index finger on fret 10 second finger
on fret number 11 next one is E minor so it's a minor chord shape and what we're
doing here fingers 2 and 3 in the minor chord shapes on the same fret next
chord is F sharp we treat that as a minor and then lastly back to G again so
what I'd recommend over a drum beat or over one of backing tracks or over a
song you know in the key of G just play these shapes as an exercise so we're
just going for a major chord shape minor minor fret 8 major up to major minor
minor again major and it sounds really pretty across any of the chords in the
key of G and you can play that sort of thing all day and it never sounds old and
this technique also works really beautifully on strings two and strings
four so for instance say we're in the key of D so my first finger here is on the
note of D and on string four I happen to be on the note of F sharp there so it's
major shape and there's six notes apart if you want to count that up so F sharp
to D now if I play major and then minor minor again major major minor minor and
then return back to D major it all works very very nicely so you can do this on
either strings one and three or two and four for any major key just get your
starting off point so your root note is whatever your first finger is doing in
either strings one or two and everything else will fall into place
