dubstep

Lacoste is above all a legend. The legend of a fantastic tennis player, Rene Lacoste, a member of the famous "Musketeers" team and a star of the courts of Wimbledon, Forest Hills and Roland Garros. The Four Musketeers (Jean Borot, Jacques Brugno, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste) dominated the game of tennis in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s. They eventually led France to six straight wins (1927 through 1932) in the Davis Cup which was unheard of way back then, with Lacoste the world number one tennis player from 1926-1927. The stand out player, Lacoste, was nicknamed the "Crocodile" and "Alligator" for his  hot headed attitude and eagerness to bust out into a brawl on the court. He is now better known for being the namesake and creator of the Lacoste Tennis shirt and later in 1933, the Lacoste Tennis shoe. Fast forward 75 years, and Lacoste are celebrating this momentous occasion by launching a collectible series inspired from their Tennis and Yachting heritage. Unique to the 75 year collection is the use of the original crocodile (or is it an alligator?) which originated in 1933 and is embossed onto the uppers of each shoe.

After you learn chord charts it will be a lot easier for you to understand scale charts, however it is not essential that you know how to read a chord chart to learn to use scale charts. The main difference is that a scale chart has more notes per string and the notes on the chart are not played all at once like a chord.

Scales

The easiest scale to play would be the chromatic scale. Some consider the chromatic scale more of an exercise than a real scale but it is important to know because it contains all the possible notes of the guitar. The next scales you will learn are the major and minor scales. Both the major and minor scales have 8 notes in them before they start to repeat the pattern. Another great thing about scales on the guitar is that all the scale types have the same pattern. That means once you know one major scale you know all 12, or once you know one minor scale you know all 12.

Scale Charts

Scale charts are very similar looking to chord charts. At the top there is the name of the scale, such as A Major or B Minor. Below that there is the same grid as a chord chart. This grid represents the neck of the guitar. Vertical lines show the strings from left to right, E, A, D, G, B, e. The horizontal lines show the frets of the guitar with the top line being closest to the nut of the guitar. The black dots show what notes are in the scale. Like a chord chart the black dots show where to put your fingers. But since most people don't have 8 or 16 finger you have to play one note at a time starting with the root note or the note on the E string (far left line) on top of the other note of that string. This is the lowest tone of the scale.

The root note of the scale is the note that is used to name the scale. If the scale starts on an A note and follows the major scale pattern after that then it is the A major scale. The root note can also be used to show where the scale pattern repeats if more than one octave is being played. The root note on a scale chart is usually shown by an outlined circle or a circle with an R in the middle. Think of the root note as the starting note of the scale.

After you learn the major and minor scale patterns you can play any of the 12 scales of that scale type. Just take the major scale, say C major, and move each note up one fret, now you have the Db major scale. You can do this with all of the scale on the guitar, but be careful when you get to playing the open strings near the nut of the guitar, make sure you are playing the correct scale pattern because they can change when you start adding in open strings.