Chuck Loeb - The 6 Positions Lesson

[Randy120]

A lesson on position playing by Chuck Loeb. Chuck was a great player and instructor. He has many lesson videos on YouTube which are worth watching.

 

 

[matonanjin]

Thanks, Randy.  Another one that died way too young.  When we used to have a smooth jazz station here I would often hear him.  A great guitarist. 

[Randy120]

1 hour ago, matonanjin said:

Thanks, Randy.  Another one that died way too young.  When we used to have a smooth jazz station here I would often hear him.  A great guitarist. 

You are welcome. Yes, unfortunately I discovered him only a few months before he died. His lessons are very good so I wanted to make sure he had a place on our new forum. 

[V7#5b9]

@Randy120 

It appears we discovered Chuck about the same time. As I wrote on the old forum, he turned me on to the BluesCube Artist. I even took his course for a while before switching to another one. In the introduction he talks about attending Berklee where he was introduced to the six positions. He later modified the fingerings slightly, but I can see that the patterns are primarily derived from the CAGED system. With a note of reflection Chuck talks about dropping out of college as he thought he had a bigger fish to fry. He also shared a fun fact about how he learned why Wes Montgomery played with his thumb. 

I see ArtistWorks put up this video on YouTube as an obvious promotion with some explanation of the positions, but very little detail. Hopefully, they won’t mind if I enhance this promotion by putting up the actual patterns. So, here they are: 

However, I recommend taking the entire course vs trying to learn bits and pieces from YouTube. Chuck deserves recognition as both great musician and teacher. His legacy will go on and you can learn a lot from him.

Footnote: If you wonder why I abandoned Chuck’s course the answer is simple. You can navigate the fretboard with five (Howard Roberts), six (Chuck Loeb), or seven (Richie Zellon) patterns. The seven pattern system simply makes the most sense to me as there are seven notes in a major or minor scale, and it has nothing to do with superiority of one system over another. As a matter of fact, knowing multiple navigational systems has its benefits, but you probably need to select one as your default system.

[Randy120]

@V7#5b9 Thanks for the fingering guide. Yeah, I would say there are definitely more ways than one to master the fretboard. Chuck's explanation is very good though. This video made me realize that you can start and finish from different positions. In fact he was doing it slightly different from the way I was doing it, but then I realized he was locking into a particular fret range with each form. After learning the Pentatonic and 3 notes on a string scales it gave me a clear guide to starting and ending differently.  

[V7#5b9]

You’re welcome @Randy120. By the way, and this is for the benefit of anybody who may not realize it, the major scale or Ionian mode the six patterns indicate, can be turned into other scales quite easily. If you lower the 7th by one half step you get: 1-2-3-4-5-6-b7 or the Mixolydian mode. Then, by lowering the 3rd in Mixolydian by one half step you get: 1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7 or the Dorian mode, and so on. Ideally, you want to be able to visualize the patterns of all scale degrees as well as the embedded chord arpeggios which constitute the harmonic framework for soloing and improvisation. 

[NeilES335]

If you're looking at different ways to learn and play scales, modes, pentatonics, II -V's , etc. with exercises,  such as 3 note on a string you could look at a book I bought through Steves' store (not there now unfortunately) called "Guitar Seeds" by Jack Grassel.  

The exercises are described in great detail, and I learned 3 note on a string major scales quite quickly, all over the neck (this isnt covered until Session 15 ish  in think in the LMG course ). It shows you how to treat the fret-board horizontally (up and down). You cant help but improve your reading. It's on my "to do list" in paralell with the other courses..  ( @V7#5b9 @gotto  @Randy120  Maybe Steve has some copies ...  you may be interested..If not you could get it here; https://www.jackgrasseljilljensen.com/store/p38/GUITAR_SEEDS.html

PS You'll need at least a basic notation reading ability, as there is NO TAB in this book.

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by NeilES335
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