BeginnerFoundations

Unlocking the Fretboard

Stop living in one box. Learn the neck as one connected map you can find your way around mid-solo.

Most players know the pentatonic in one spot, maybe two. Then the chord changes and the hand goes hunting for the next place it already knows. This course maps the neck on purpose, in C major and A minor so nothing gets in the way: the C major scale in five positions, then seven positions three notes per string, the A minor pentatonic in all five positions, intervals and double stops from thirds to tenths, and triads and 7th chords mapped in five positions across the board. Every position gets seen, heard and sung, not just run up and down. And most sections end with a jam where Rotem plays first and then hands it to you.

Self-paced71 lessons

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Preview

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What you get

71 video lessons in 10 sections
38 downloadable PDFs in notation and tab
10 jam lessons with backing tracks to solo over
Lifetime access

What you need

An electric or acoustic guitar
A metronome (any free app works)
Notation or tab, whichever you're comfortable with. Everything is written in both
Willingness to sing quietly. You don't need to be an opera singer

By the end

What you’ll be able to do

Play the C major scale in five positions and move between them in time

Play C major in seven positions, three notes per string, from the 5th and the 6th string

Play the A minor pentatonic in all five positions and connect them, instead of living in one box

Play double stops through the key: thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, ninths, tenths and octaves

Find every triad and 7th chord in the key without leaving the position you are in

See major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th and m7b5 chords in five positions across the neck

The curriculum

The road before you pay

Welcome to this course

1 lesson

A quick hello and what you're about to build.

01Hiya

Section 1: Five important tips before we start

6 lessons

How to practice this so it turns into music: belief, slowing down, color, time and staying playful.

01Introduction
02Tip 1: Believe
03Tip 2: Slow, chill
04Tip 3: Colors
05Tip 4: Time, rhythm
06Tip 5: Playful

Section 2: Basic theory you need

8 lessons

The C major scale, triads, 7th chords, rhythm, reading tab, singing what you play, and tension and release.

01Introduction
02What is the C major scale
03Triads
04What are 7th chords
05Basic rhythm
06Tab notation
07Sing it
08Tension and release

Section 3: The C major scale in 5 positions

5 lessons

Five positions of C major, a sound exercise, subdivisions with a play-along, and your first jam.

01Introduction
02C major scale, 5 positions
03Sound exercise
04In time with subdivisions (play-along)
05Jam: solo 1

Section 4: 7 positions of the C major scale

6 lessons

C major mapped three notes per string from the 5th and 6th strings, legato, one position at a time.

017 positions from the 5th string
025th to 6th string
037 positions from the 6th string
04Legato
05One at a time
06Jam: solo 2

Section 5: A minor pentatonic

9 lessons

All five positions, three notes per string, connecting them, getting out of the box, and five lines to make your own.

01How to learn the pentatonic
025 positions
033 notes per string
043 notes per string, subdivisions 1 to 4
05Connecting the 5 positions
06Get out of the box
078th notes
085 lines
09Jam: solo 3

Section 6: Double stops and intervals

13 lessons

Every interval in the key played as a double stop, with three jams along the way.

01Introduction
023rds
03Jam: solo 4
044ths
055ths
06Jam: solo 5
076ths
087ths
09Octaves
10Some practice tips
119ths
1210ths
13Jam: solo 6

Section 7: Triads in position

5 lessons

Every triad in the key inside one position, ascending, descending and with variations.

01Introduction
021-3-5 ascending and descending
03Take your time
041-3-5 variations
05Jam: solo 7

Section 8: 7th chords in position

4 lessons

The same idea with four notes: every 7th chord in the key without leaving the spot.

01Introduction
021-3-5-7 ascending and descending
031-3-5-7 variations
04Jam: solo 8

Section 9: Triads in 5 positions

6 lessons

Major and minor triads mapped in five positions across the neck, and why it matters.

01Introduction
02Major
03Closed triads
04Minor
05Why triads
06Jam: solo 9

Section 10: 7th chords in 5 positions

7 lessons

The four main 7th chord colors in five positions, plus a trick with the half diminished chord.

01Introduction
02Major 7th
03Dominant 7th
04Minor 7th
05m7b5
06Cool trick with m7b5
07Jam: solo 10

Congratulations

1 lesson

A closing word from Rotem.

01Thanks

That’s the complete lesson list. Nothing held back.

This is for you if…

Players who know the pentatonic in one or two spots and freeze when they leave them
Players who've run scale fingerings up and down for years and still can't see the notes
Anyone who wants scales and chords to live on the same map

Maybe not yet if…

Players who want a blues course in A. It's taught in C major and A minor, and the same relationships carry to every key
Players who want licks to copy rather than a map to build

Foundations

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Unlocking the Fretboard

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Questions

Before you enroll

YouTube gives you scattered tips with no order. This is a sequenced path, each lesson builds on the last, with the practice material and the exact next step handed to you so you stop guessing what to work on.

See the whole neck as one map.

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