Creative Rock

Following his previous lesson, Shaun Baxter cranks up the pressure by halving the amount of time to play your Mixolydian vocabulary over each chord.

Shaun Baxter’s bootcamp turns its steely attention towards one-bar triplet lines.

that repertoire systematically in different keys all over the neck.

The idea is not just to build your lick repertoire so that you have things to play, but also to have instant access to that vocabulary when improvising. To start with, Diagram 1 shows the five CAGED shapes of A Mixolydian.

Once you have learnt one scale in all areas of the neck, it is possible to transpose this information to allow you to play from any other root note in the same manner. Ultimately, this leads to you being able to access any scale under your fingers at any time, wherever you are on the neck, purely by selecting the appropriate shape.

The backing track for this lesson is devoted to a progression comprising a sequence of A7-C7-D7-F7-G7 (one bar on each chord). Basically, we go through the alphabet, but have taken away the first chord each time there is only a semitone between two chords. There is very little you learn about C if you’ve simply moved up a semi-tone from B, and the same goes for E and F. By removing B and E, you still have to mentally acknowledge where they are in order to get to C and F; but, of equal importance, by omitting these two chords, we’ve ended up with a five-chord sequence that allows us to practise all five shapes of the CAGED system in each area of the neck in a streamlined and efficient manner.

Diagram 2 shows how the CAGED system can be used for each chord-type in order to play in just one area of the neck. Generally, the neck areas or positions shown correspond to the ones delineated by the various position markers on the fretboard.

Try building up your approach to playing the full version of the exercise shown in the transcription (along with the backing track) by doing the following: Start by playing each A Mixolydian line A7 Shape #1 (bar 1) A7 Shape #2 (bar 6) A7 Shape #3 (bar 11) A7 Shape #4 (bar 16) A7 Shape #5 (bar 21) 2) Then, take each A7 line and transpose it (laterally) to another part of the guitar neck for C7 D7 F7 and G7 (note that you can use the backing track to practise this): Shift each A7 line up three frets for C7 Then up another two frets for D7 Then up another thre frets for F7 Then up another two frets for G7 and, finally, up another two frets to get back to A7. Note, as you ascend the fretboard, you may have to double-back an octave (play the same things 12 frets lower) if you find that you are running out of neck 3) Next, use the backing track to work in just

In order to be creative, it helps to know where you are going, and to have a clear understanding of what you have learnt.

one position of the neck using a different CAGED shape (and associated Mixolydian line) for each chord. 4) Then work through the length of the neck (again with the backing track) playing a different line for each chord as you shift up through the positions in the same manner as shown in the transcription and demonstrated on the lesson audio. 5) Finally, you can also use the backing track to practise your own licks and lines for each of the five CAGED shapes of Mixolydian.