For the Love of God by Steve Vai

http://onlineguitarcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/fortheloveofgod.flv
For the Love of God’s main progression is Em9 to Fmaj7#11. Now that can seem intimidating but if we see that the first chord is basically an Em this implies the key of E minor. We can use the 5 CAGED shapes in the key of G major (relative major of E minor). So you need to take the 5 CAGED shapes from key of C and shift each shape to the key of G. You might need to review the CAGED system lessons in the Fretboard Mastery course.

If we look at the Fmaj7#11 it has F, A, C, E and B which has all the notes of E minor except for the F. So we can think about this in two ways:

1) Play over the entire progression using the G major shapes and when Fmaj7#11 chord is played all we have to do is shift the F# down to F for the 5 shapes during that chord.
2) Play G major shapes over Emadd9 chord and C major shapes over the Fmaj7#11 (the IV chord in the key of C major). Since there’s a B in the Fmaj7#11 chord we know it’s not a I chord (which would imply key of F major which has a Bb). Check out the music theory course if you need a brush up on chord progressions.

Practice shifting back and forth between the F# and F and try to emphasize the chord tones in each chord. Here’s a backing track for you. It’s just a loop between the 2 chords (not the other chord changes from the song) so that you can practice improvising over the 2 chords.

Of course you can always use the E minor pentatonic over the entire progression as it has neither the F# nor F note in the scale. Remember that with each major scale shape is a pentatonic shape, so it’s best to learn the 5 major scale shapes first as the framework. You might choose to use the pentatonic scale at times to be a little more open and ambiguous sounding, instead of always hitting proper chord tones. It’s about balance.

Here’s a blog post showing the CAGED shapes in key of C. You can shift these patterns to play in key of G for the Emadd9 chord as I describe in the video.

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