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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Outlier Syndrome

those-who-dig-logo-finalI have a problem when discovering new music, and I know I can’t be the only one. It’s somewhat traumatizing, sometimes embarrassing, and ultimately disappointing. Does anybody else out there suffer from Outlier Syndrome – liking the first tune you hear from a band then realizing none of their other songs sound like that? If so, please read on. If not, it’s because I just made it up right now, but please read on anyway. Read more…