Learn All About That 6th Trick

And unleash your blues guitar playing!

In this blues guitar lesson for beginners, we'll explore the interval of a 6th trick. We'll be using the arrangements I created to put this theory into practice.

This lesson will help you put the interval of a 6th into practical use in an easy and fun way. We'll check out how and why it works - so we're diving in deep here! :)

In The 6th Trick, we explore using the interval of a 6th in a Blues. It's a bit tricky, but this skill is helpful for many things, even outside of your blues guitar playing! I mixed the 6ths with a consistent bass thing in the playthrough, but you can keep it simple for now! :)

🚨 For this study, I really encourage you to download the PDF or Guitar Pro file in the resource section. The visuals will help you understand how the different bits relate to each other. It's free - all you have to do is log into your account to access it.

What Is An Interval Of The 6th?

The interval of the sixth describes six steps of a major scale. You will encounter two types of sixth intervals: the major 6th and the minor 6th. It gets funky for blues guitar because we have a 6th between the major 3rd and the root.

Let's take the key of E. If we start in the 3rd of the chord - we have G#. Count up from that in the major scale; we get to the E.

If we move both of those notes up by one scale step, the G# becomes an A, and the E becomes an F sharp. If we move those another step, the A becomes a B, and the F sharp becomes a G#.

💡 Want more to learn more about intervallic relationships? Check out the ear training lesson for a deeper dive into the theoretical side of major 6th intervals.

That 6th Trick Chord Theory

The cool thing about sixth intervals is how they relate to chords. Our study is in the key of E, so we'll examine it first in that key.

With the regular open E Chord, the interval between the third string notes is G sharp. The open thinnest string, E, is six steps along the E major scale. Because both notes are chord tones, you are outlining the harmony with just two notes.

Moving both notes up to the following scale degree will become A and F#, another 6th interval (six steps along the E Major Scale: A B C# D# E F#).

Move them up another scale degree, and you get to B and G#, which are again both chord tones of the E Major chord! You end up with a lovely harmonic movement that outlines the harmony!

What Is A Chromatic Link?

When exploring 6th intervals, you'll have two of the same shape but a tone apart. It sounds super cool to link them chromatically - which means to play the notes between them.

You can play them up and down your fretboard - they're easily movable shapes! This will be awesome for improvising blues guitar riffs.

Don't pause on those 'chromatic passing notes'; pass through them. Stopping on the chromatic link usually sounds weird.

How To Learn The Blues Arrangement

I really enjoyed learning 'etudes' on my own blues guitar journey. They're fun to make and a super cool way of putting concepts into practice. I recommend the following process:

Learn the study exactly as written (one chunk at a time).
Learn to improvise with the 'chunks,' mix up the order, and explore.
See if you can explore the concept and mix it up as much as you can - re-make your own chunks.
Start improvising for real - and expect some fluffs along the way - that's normal. It's part of the guitar journey!

4 Beginner Blues Guitar Tips

I know the 6th trick can be challenging to learn - especially for guitar beginners! Here are helpful tips when you're learning blues guitar arrangements and studies.

#1 Break It down

Learn just one or two bars at a time. Learn one, practice and repeat it, memorize it. Then learn the next chunk, practice it, get it right. Then, join it onto the other part that you learned already! Keep adding parts until you can play the whole arrangement.

#2 Find The Weak Spots

Keep going like this until you have learned, memorized, and can play the whole thing. When you can play through the whole song, keep an eye/ear out for any parts that are not as strong as the rest.

When you find a tricky bit - pull it out and work on that bit alone for a while. Then play the whole thing again and see what the next tricky bit is that needs work.

#3 Practice makes permenent

DO NOT keep playing it over and over again and make the same mistakes every time! Practice makes permanent - don't make mistakes permanent!

#4 Improvise!

Learning a study is a gateway to improvising. You'll want to mix up the bits together. So mix up your riffs bits - and have loads of fun making new sounds!

More Blues Studies To Come!

I have more studies for Grade3+ blues guitar studies in the pipeline! Eventually, I hope you will be able to improvise and explore a whole bunch of these studies.

Be patient & practice consistently. With progress, you'll be able to get your blues guitar rocking! :)

💬 Leave your comments and questions on the discussion board. I know this lesson is tricky for some beginners, we'll try to give you advice to make things easier! Cheers.