I listened to every version of Sugaree from 1974 and 1985 💪🤯👍 What I heard changed me... FOREVER! 😱

Click - baited 🪝Lol

It's true, I did listen to all of those versions and found something that I think is pretty cool.

Sugaree first came out in '71, Which coincides with Micky leaving the band from about '71 to '74. I chose to listen to '74 because at that point the song, with Billy as the only drummer, had worked into it's most refined shape given that incarnation of the Grateful Dead. In those shows you can really hear Billy's swinging backbeat, and Jerry’s phrasing is clearly responding to that feel. Jerry's timing and phrasing is very much a 4/4 bouncing between the two chord movement.

✨HOWEVER✨… by the mid 80s, obv Mickey is back, and the whole feel of the song is different. The drumming and the band/song’s phrasing starts to feel like it’s counting in 8 rather than 4. We have a strong pulse, “And Uh ONE”, then the count cycles to 8. Sure it's possible to count in 4/4, or even 2/4 but, the strongest downbeat is that "ba-ds-daa-DUMP" on the B, and to my ear this feels like 8/4 time.

This shift actively de-emphasizes the move from the B chord to the E, or the 5 to the 1. The chord change now falls on beat 5. The effect of this is that the tonal center doesn’t land on the key center of E, our ear rests on the tonal center of B.

⚡️In this light, Jerry’s phrasing naturally shifts into longer, eight count ideas.⚡️

As I began thinking and listening in this way, one of the things I started to hear is that Jerry is almost always working in sets of 4 of those 8 count phrases. He don’t follow a strict pattern (no surprise there 🤪) but he does almost always use the first three phrases establish an idea, such as an A B A C, and that fourth phrase breaks out and pushes forward.

This idea of thinking in sets of phrases and then altering the fourth, has been a big shift mentally for me. 🎸🧠

What you’re seeing in the first half of the video is m playing a routine that I’ve worked out. There’s a part at the very beginning on the low E string that I stole from Jerry from a 1985 Atlanta show, along with the other part up by the 12th fret. I don't think he'll mind.

Working those out has been a lot of fun, especially seeing how Jerry moves in and around these shapes. His phrasing is just really melodic and fluid. It's like he’s like really good man.

On the technical side, learning where the triads are up and down the neck is getting easier because of the practice I’ve been doing. I’m still mostly seeing things as patterns, and while I can track the root of each chord as it goes by, I struggle to target notes by name in real time. I’m starting to work on that, like aiming for the D# over the B chord, but once the song gets going I’m not really thinking that way. It’s still more about chord shapes, neighboring strings, and the pentatonic framework. There is more work to be done.

The second go around is mostly improvisational, and honestly why this version is the one I'm posting. I do loose track of that solo structure and I’m still working in things like arpeggiated chord tones, but overall it’s pretty unrehearsed and there something there that I like.

I could go on, but if you’re one of the handful of people who read this and listened to me play. Thank you! Please leave a comment, as always, I respond well to enthusiasm!

✌️❤️🤟
Brian

@Guitargate
Grateful Dead - Lead Guitar Roadmap
Sugaree - Improv Roadmap

It’s interesting to note that when Sugaree first came into existence in 71, it was just as Mickey Hart was leaving the band and Bill Kreutzmann was the only drummer. Billy has such a sense of swing about his playing, and I think that shows up in the feel of this song.

In the beginning the rhythm is a swinging backbeat. However, by the time they get to the mid 80s, which are the versions I’m currently liking, the timing has an 8/4 feel to it. I imagine it to be similar to how 6/4 is related to 3/4 time.

Moving forward, I want to continue to work on that sense of rhythm along with the sense of melody in the song. I will also go back and try to learn some Jerry licks, in hopes that it will help me to keep the feel of the song, but also to be a little free on the neck.

Right now I’m still able to see the root of each chord pretty much as it goes by, and with that I’m often able to see the triad that root belongs to, as well as the pentatonic pattern on the neighboring strings. to. I’m still struggling to learn the pentatonic shapes vertically, and being able to modulate the pentatonic shape according to the chord that the song is on. I would still like very much to be able to move to the thirds and fifths of chords intentionally and in real time.

Thank you for listening and taking the time to read my thoughts!
✌️❤️🤟

Shakin It Up Now!

Getting a feel for the Triads up and down the neck. Feeling better about spotting the Root in each Triad, but want to work on knowing where the three and five are by name and position rather than just by pattern. If that makes any sense.

✌️❤️🤟

“The journey is the prize”, as promised! This track is Spring Water by a band called KVHW, who am be Steve Kimock, Bobby Vega, Alan Hertz, and Ray White.

Suggest taking a long cool sip from that deep deep pocket that Alan and Bobby are laying down, let Ray’s words wash over you, and after Steve’s solo bubbles up from nothing you just may find yourself floating in some Spring Water.

(PS: music starts around :20 sec in)

Thank you for all you do! ✌️❤️🤟

Pulsar marks the completion of Fundamentals Level Two on Guitargate. The first video I posted for this set of lessons went up in January of this year, which means it took me nearly a full year to work through the material. I am actually glad it unfolded that way. Spending real time with foundational skills has been especially valuable for me as a fairly loose and intuitive player.

This level helped reinforce my visual understanding of the guitar neck. While shape based learning is not new to me, revisiting pentatonic scales, seeing how chord shapes connect to those positions, and finding the seven chords that belong to any key helped solidify how these ideas relate across the neck and transfer to other keys.

For those who notice these things, bonus points if you can name the band on my shirt. I am a huge Steve Kimock fan. While I am not trying to emulate him directly, years of listening to his playing have clearly settled into my bones. This piece is slow and legato, and I like the openness and space that allows. My technique is not at a place where rapid fire playing feels natural yet, so I tend to let things breathe.

One thing I want to keep developing is a stronger sense of connection between phrases so there is more narrative flow from one idea to the next. Still, I am very pleased with the overall musicality of this piece.

The loop I am playing over has been on my looper for a long time. At this point, guitar is not only about learning something new but also about relaxation. My job can be stressful, and playing gives me a way to express or release that stress. This jam is unhurried and long, and I am comfortable sitting with the same idea for extended stretches of time. That feels central to what music can be for me.

I am deeply grateful to Michael at Guitargate for creating these lessons. I have learned a great deal this year and I am looking forward to 2026 and continuing to build on these foundations.

The Guitargate prompt said to play in the dirt, and sand is close enough.

I decided to channel my nineteen-year-old self and blow the dust off of Enter Sandman. Back when I was playing in a band, this was one of the first songs we learned, so it felt good to revisit it. This take is a little sloppy, and there is probably a drummer somewhere losing his mind over the tempo, but honestly it was fun to do, and sometimes you just have to kick up a little sand!

Guitargate Tone 201 - Dirt And Boost

Recording my playing has been really beneficial. In part because I usually rehearse and do multiple takes trying to get things down as well as I can. While my playing and theory have grown over time, the experience of trying to get it “correct-ish” for recording has pushed me to focus on details that might otherwise have just slid by.

There’s still a long way to go, but my goal is to have fun, and to do things as well as I can for now.

If you’ve read this far, I have a sincere question for you! 🤠 What are the strengths you hear/see in my playing, and what is one thing that could be better?

Guitargate Fundamental 202 - Recording Yourself

Turn the lights down low and play.

I told myself when I first started doing these practice, guitar videos, guitar practice videos that I was gonna simply just try to do my best with them. Sometimes that means just getting it done, and other times it shows up as Play. This is what’s at the heart of improvisation and expressing oneself.

Of course in hindsight, you can the patterns that I leaned on. The loop is in Bb Minor so the Bb Minor Pentatonic shapes across the neck are the main structure. I’ve been practicing how to spot the tonic of both the minor chord and the diatonic major shape within that pattern. While I’m able to find those, I wouldn’t necessarily say target them yet, but at least I'm able land on them. I still struggle to find the chord tones of a minor chord under-finger.

One of the suggestions for practicing was to move between a major and a minor feel within the context of a minor cord. In this case, it’s Db major which is the diatonic One in the key of Db/Bb min.

I reeeealllly like the dissonant sound you get when you bring in the major second color over a minor context basically a Dorian flavor inside an Aeolian setting. It creates these tensions that I think is fun to explore. After doing some digging, it looks like the color/tension is coming from a G natural, rather than a Gb. Diatonically speaking this seems to give us a "flat 3rd." But in the context of the Bb Minor, it's a Major 6th?

But this is all after the fact. While I'm playing, its the ear that is leading.

Thank you for listening!
✌️❤️🤘

🧙‍♂️ Smokey McFrybush is the lead guitar wizard for Unseen University's Sedentary Band. They play infrequently as well as irreverently, and often on their own. Less of a band, really more of a silly man in a room wailing to the stars. ✨

🐰 No actual bunnies were harmed in the making of this video.🐰

For this exercise I took a note from another Guitar Gate subscriber, and chose to learn this Jerry solo from 9/10/89 which is full of bend, slides (up and back!,) hammer on's, and more Jerry-isms.

Guitargate: Technique 203 - Bends And Slides

Credits!
Thank you to @WeepingWillowGuitarLessons Willow Guitar Lessons for posting this solo: https://youtu.be/geg-ACAX_Cc?si=Hlf6d1j9PkpMO5PH
Thank you to @Whoaduderighteous for posting the original Jerry Garcia Band show: https://youtu.be/oDa71ongR8w?si=npGrNNVBPcqwwWK4&t=4015
Thank you to @JeffWilliamsGuitar for posting this awesome backing track: https://youtu.be/3h6KEgpOJB4?si=A2detJfzgGXAnEaC

Thank you for listening!
✌️❤️🤘

What do Roy Buchanan, John Cippolina, and Spaghetti Westerns have in common?

Is it this?

Part of my challenge with the minor pentatonic scale is in knowing the relationships/ intervals between the notes. Because the root of the pattern moves the pattern is 1,3,4,5,7, as compared to the major pentatonic which is 1,2,3,5,6.

This is one of those things that I understand mentally, but in practice I am still having to learn.

Thanks for tuning in!

Always up for a cheap trill, for this exercise I wanted to keep it simple with a C tone pad. Then working up and down the Cmaj pentatonic shapes.

I really like the combination of a lot of overdrive almost to the point of fuzz, and the jazz circuit on the Jazz Master. Some people refer to this as a muddy tone, but I find it is just perfect for taking off all of the edges on the overdrive to achieve something like a cello or a string instrument sound. Of course, ironically a guitar is a stringed instrument… but I think you know what I mean.

Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown gives a BREATHLESS performance while Roy Clark and the band keep the train rollin’ on time.

Clarence is a multi-instrumentalist who has a unique finger style. His phrases are tasty as they are fast. And yes, in case you’re wondering, that IS a leather pick guard!

Oh, and Roy Clark ain’t that bad. 😂

Buckle up kids, we’re taking the A-Train

Two keys, the 5 major chord shapes and their associated pentatonic patterns.

I try to express how I see the pentatonic pattern in positions Hamburger and Hotdog. Two interlocking rectangles that flow across the fretboard. By the way, in my case these are vegetarian hamburgers and hotdogs! 😁

Hamburger is a set of six notes in a 3 across and 2 down rectangle. Each set of notes are a whole step apart, and the one is in the upper right corner.

Next is Hotdog, a 2x2 rectangle where each pair is a minor third apart, and the one is in the lower right corner.

So if we can find the one of the chord we can easily find our way through the pentatonic pattern.

That’s my two cents. 🤙

Experimenting with Pentatonic scales over an A7 backing track.

First is the A major pentatonic scale. Then the D major Pentatonic scale because that is the key this is in. Next things get interesting! G major Pentatonic. This is because G is 7th in the A7, AND it is the fourth degree of the key of D, making it a major.

Next I got to a Major Second, E major pentatonic. This includes non-diatonic notes, but also works because it’s also the 5th of A. I’m sure someone could explain why tis works, but whooo-eey! I like it!

Finally it’s just all the notes of the D major scale.

Haunting, achingly beautiful, exquisitely crafted.

The tone is in the fingers, the song is from the heart.

Chose the key of C major, and its relative minor, A minor. This way, the pentatonic scales are connected between the major and minor. It’s all one pattern.

Would love some feedback on ergonomics. While making many of these chord shapes, especially the fifth position of major, and first position of minor I found that my hand was really clamping down on the neck. This of course, makes it very difficult to move between shapes fluently. Also, I am continuing to get a buzz on the G string when I use a barre chord.

So far my solution has been to try to make adjustments to my guitar strap. That has helped. But I would love some more feedback on how to properly position my thumb on the back of the neck, and any other suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

I posted an earlier video with just the major shapes. This is the minor shapes, and mostly so that I feel like I can move onto the next lesson! Lol.

Worked on getting this solo run to take flight for a month. My effort was to create and build energy throughout the solo. One of the unique features of cold rain and snow is that Jerry seems to be playing the D major pentatonic over the D major scale, and the E major pentatonic over the E major scale. Nicely tucked into this structure is that the cord tones align nicely with the pentatonic scales. I also really liked moving through the different effect levels. Enjoy✌️

I feel like I discovered a gem buried in this song. Please bear with me as I try to explain.

So the verses are made up of two couplets. I view them as the D part and the E part, which it is important to note are the 4 and 5 of the Diatonic key we are in.

Now, the D part, “I married me a wife…” is 5 measures long, BUT, the E part is 4 measures long.

Hilariously this means that 5 on the 4 chord, and 4 on the 5. 😂

Oh we goin where that chilly wind don’t blow.

Would love some tips for improvement of the fretting hand, and rhythm. 👍

Fabulous and way too short… but as the man said, you know know our love not fade away!

Love seeing the Grateful Dead being honored as the embodiment and spirit of love and adventure.

Bomp bomp bomp, bompbomp

Feeling a little clunky moving up and down. The rhythm isn’t the same as the song… and yet, I like it. It’s progress.

As ever, I’m open to any suggestions for improvement.