Fretboard Harmony: Breaking Out of The 'Box'

Ben Sher, a professor at Berklee College of Music, presents his Fretboard Harmony concept: a study of the intervallic relationships on the guitar neck that lets you move beyond horizontal fingering patterns and travel vertically from the bottom of the neck to the top.

What's covered

• Dividing the neck into three two-string regions using perfect fifths — the simple ordering that opens up the whole fretboard
• Building diagonal arpeggios across the regions: minor and major triads, then major 7th and other jazzy sounds
• Sweep picking and hammer-ons for a smooth legato sound — a technique Barney Kessel used almost exclusively
• The sweeping, melismatic arpeggio style of Johnny Smith and George Benson
• Applying the concept to fundamental skills: arpeggios, blues, and major scales
• Melodic ideas for blues, jazz-blues, and flowing bebop lines in the style of Pat Martino

This first lesson in the series introduces the basic concept, then shows how to create lines that travel through different registers. A downloadable file is included with the class. An eye-opening lesson whatever your level or style.