Rock Guitar Lesson – Must Know Chords & Scales

This rock guitar lesson will explain the commonly used scales and chords that are used in rock music. Rock music essentially grew out of blues; so much of the components of rock will also be common to blues music.

In rock guitar the most common scales used for soloing are the minor pentatonic, major pentatonic and blues scales. With rock music there are common chords that are used, the most common being the 5 chord or power chord, the major and minor chords.

The 5 chord is simply the root and the perfect fifth and can be played just using these two notes or adding the root up an octave using three strings. This chord is used extensively in rock, hard rock, metal and punk music. The chord is commonly played with the root on the low E string or on the A string, but a 5 chord can also be played less commonly over the higher strings giving a brighter sound. Because most chords are constructed using a root and fifth, it is important to know how to use the 5 chords as they are a stepping stone to learning most other chords on the guitar.

Rock guitar uses the minor and major chords, in the form of triads, extensively. If we take a 5 chord and add a flat 3rd, we create a minor chord. By adding a major 3rd we create a major chord. It is common in rock guitar to use these chords in the open position on the fretboard, but they can be played on any part of the fretboard with a little practice.

In rock guitar the most common scale used for soloing is the minor pentatonic. This scale is the “bread and butter” scale of rock. It is best to learn this scale first, before any others as it will be the most versatile scale in your soloing arsenal. The blues scale is also very common, and is created by simply adding a flat five to the minor pentatonic.

The major pentatonic scale and the major scale are commonly used in rock guitar playing. Both of these scales will give a brighter sound to that of the minor pentatonic. These scales can be applied to many different styles of rock music from pop to heavy rock to country.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this rock guitar lesson, it should give you a clear understanding of what you need to learn to play rock music. Keep practicing, and best of luck with the guitar.

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