CAGED System vs. Pentatonic Scales

I’m hoping by now you’ve read Ivan’s great post about the history and importance of flatpicking. Though a seasoned musician, it’s a relatively new topic to me and one I’ve been looking at a lot lately. Recently, while hoping to improve my acoustic and bluegrass guitar soloing chops, I searched around for some tips on scales and chord shapes to use. In doing so, I found such a travesty of misguided music theory and wildly unmusical thinking, I just had to share.

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Dead Horses on The Dig Sessions

The Dead Horses have been taking the Midwest by storm. They have a diverse range, mixing everything from catchy ballads to hard-picking traditional arrangements into their live shows. Their self categorized genre is “folkgrass” and they were kind enough to drop by the Dig Session Studios (ok it was the back room of a Milwaukee bar) and play a few songs for y’all.

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The Evergreen Grass Band and Pay The Devil, Live

This Saturday night on Brady Street in Milwaukee Wisconsin there will be live bluegrass music. The Up and Under Pub will play host to two Wisconsin acts, The Evergreen Grass Band (Eau Clair, Wisconsin) and Pay The Devil (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) will take the stage starting at 9pm and play into the wee hours of the morning. Music samples after the jump.

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The Wisconsin Bluegrass Fest

Beard weather and bluegrass music are upon us. Saturday January 11th a slew of phenomenal bluegrass acts will descend on the Majestic Madison Theater. The Dead Horses, The Evergreen Grass Band, Chicken WIre Empire, and The Smokin’ Bandits Duo (plus a special guest to be named later) will surely test the towns whiskey supply.

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Pay The Devil: Money For Old Rope EP

Since 2011, friends of the Dig Pay The Devil have worked to become a regular component of the Milwaukee Wisconsin music scene. The four piece band is comprised of Ivan Eisenberg on banjo, harmonica, and vocals, Ivan Wayne Baker III on guitar, and vocals, Matt Gibbons on mandolin, and vocals, and finally Kent Heberling on spoons, kick drum, and snare. Their newest EP is entitled Money For Old Rope and was released this week on August 6, 2013. True to their nature, it is a mix of Bluegrass, Americana, and  new compositions which speak to the audience through the filter of traditional music.

Read on for my complete thoughts. You dig?

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