System Eleven

Introduction To System Eleven

In the Guitar Daily Workout, the first 4 Systems provided the FOUNDATIONS that most guitarists need to be professional-level musicians: the scales, arpeggios, and techniques that form the core of a guitarist’s understanding and vocabulary. We mastered the CAGED system for arpeggios, pentatonics, and major scales, learned all of the three-on-a string modes, all arpeggios in one position.

Systems 5-8 developed INTERMEDIATE skills with more sophisticated scales, arpeggios, and approaches; moving the student from solid foundational techniques to a true mastery over the guitar neck. We learned all 7th arpeggios-major 7 arpeggios, dominant 7 arpeggios, minor 7 arpeggios, m7b5 arpeggios and diminished arpeggios. We also learned all of the major hexatonic and minor hexatonic scales, and learned the dominant pentatonic scales. And we learned how to play all of the arpeggios on three string sets, and learned the major scale and pentatonic scales on both three and two string sets.

In Systems 9-12, we will explore ADVANCED concepts-less commonly used scales and patterns–ones often found in jazz, fusion, and more complex musical styles.

Most guitarists could have a great career just by having mastery of the concepts in the first 8 systems. Many guitarists have been very successful not even knowing all of that information.

With Systems 9-12, however, you will develop skills that will allow you to understand and play more harmonically complicated music.

We will cover Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, and their Harmonized Arpeggios for harmonic and melodic minor scales, as well as the Diminished scale, Whole-Tone scale, the Coltrane Pentatonic, and Barry Harris’ 6th Diminished scale. We will also delve into single-string playing and Wes Montgomery-style octave playing.

Keep at it and work hard and you should find a whole new world of musical vocabulary opening up to you.

As with all of these systems, application is key. However, these exercises should give you muscle memory, dexterity, ears, and understanding of the scales and arpeggios that will allow you to access music with very sophisticated musical vocabularies.

Finger Gymnastics

In System 11 Finger Gymnastics, we will be doing a series of exercises that are not pattern-based. In all of the previous systems, Finger Gymnastics was used to train for strength, syncopation, and stamina by doing non-musical but complex finger patterns. They were all useful to enable your fingers to learn complicated combinations and to synchronize your left and right hands.

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Diminished

The diminished scale is a symmetrical scale that consists of the notes R, M2, m3, P4, A4, A5, M6, and M7.

You’ll notice several things about the Diminished scale. First, diminished is an 8-note scale, so one of the note names is repeated (in this example, it is the 4th). You will also notice that the diminished scale ascends in a series of whole steps and half steps.

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Arpeggios

For this system, we will approach the 7th chord arpeggios in small 4-note patterns, going through each of the chords of the harmonized scale arpeggios in a single position. This will really help us to see all the arpeggios in smaller shapes, allowing us to outline chord shapes in our improvisations. This arpeggio exercise is especially useful with fast-moving chord changes. Jens Larson often cites this arpeggio exercise as the best way to practice arpeggios for jazz. The smaller arpeggio shapes make the forms more agile for improvisation.

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Melodic Minor

This Melodic Minor exercise will begin on each note of the melodic minor scale—the R, M2, m3, P4, P5, M6,and M7. We’ll cover each mode of the melodic minor scale. We will do this exercise in groupings of 4.

The melodic minor scale is a vital tool for improvisers. Melodic minor’s unique blend of intervals offers a rich tapestry of tonal colors, allowing musicians to evoke a range of emotions. By mastering the melodic minor scale, performers unlock a world of melodic possibilities, infusing their compositions with depth and nuance. The melodic minor is even useful in pop music when we encounter a minor iv chord in a major progression. So, in the key of C, for instance, you could use the Melodic minor scale over an Fm chord. It is characterized by a raised sixth and seventh degree, and provides a smooth, flowing sound for melodic development. In jazz and classical music, the melodic minor scale serves as a catalyst for creativity, shaping memorable melodies that resonate with listeners.

Modes

This will be a fun but difficult exercise. We will play all of the modes in a linear fashion as we did in System Nine and Ten, but now we will do it with Wes Montgomery-style octaves. Just as in System Ten, this system will cover all the modes each week. But we will play octaves using down strokes, hybrid picking, and alternate picking. This mode exercise will help you to develop the ability to play any mode along the neck laterally. Playing modes this way will train you to be able to see the mode shapes but play them in a Wes Montgomery style. By the end of this exercise you will be very good at seeing modes laterally along the neck, and you should be breaking out of box playing.

Only 1 more system to go! Keep at it. You’ll be thankful you persevered!

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