Guitar EDjumacation Thread

[kwame k]

On a Xylophone?

WTF does medical equipment have to do with this, Hale

[Nitro Express]

My teacher's attitude (which I later adopted) was basically, learn enough of it so that it becomes second nature - meaning you don't even have to think about the relative major to the minor key you're playing in or whatever, that way you have a wealth of info to draw on for improvising, and interpreting chord progressions - but then throw it out the window and just play.

I mean, it's never like I'm soloing in A minor and think "Hey, now would be a cool time to throw in that lick based on E phrygian..." Those types, the ones that worry about that shit in advance, are the ones that sound robotic.

Kind of like that old Billy Sheehan GIT/BIT ad "You have to learn the rules before you can break them."

It's all how you're wired. Some people can put sex into sound and other's are like Mr. Spock working on a math project. Some have managed to turn Mr. Spock into art but few do. I know a guy who majored in music and was a master on the theory side but he then went on to get a degree in physics. He told me in many ways physics is easier than music.

The thing is the man was smart enough to know how he was wired and went in the direction of his natural ability. Too many people are trying to be something they aren't and it later fucks them in the head and makes them unhappy.

[jhale667]

Stop, my sides! LMAO!

WTF does medical equipment have to do with this, Hale

That'll be enough out of you, Mr. K!

[kwame k]

Sorry, Jay......I'll go back to the drummer's forum

[jhale667]

Sorry, Jay......I'll go back to the drummer's forum

J/K, dude...that was actually the first thing I could think of you'd be able to play notes/scales on with sticks, but we've all seen Neil Peart do it on chimes, too...Red Barchetta, IIRC?

[kwame k]

Just foolin' about myself

Truth of the matter is I am practicing the first few scales you posted. I only used guitar to write songs and never took the time to learn anything other than the "cowboy chords" and bar chords. So this is really interesting to me and a great help.

But in keeping with our long standing practice of ragging on drummers, I just couldn't help myself

[Hardrock69]

I believe in playing in the Phryxolydian X Manor Key.

[ELVIS]

I believe in playing in the Phryxolydian X Manor Key.

Keep it up. It will get you nowhere...

[Igosplut]

Just foolin' about myself

Truth of the matter is I am practicing the first few scales you posted. I only used guitar to write songs and never took the time to learn anything other than the "cowboy chords" and bar chords. So this is really interesting to me and a great help.

But in keeping with our long standing practice of ragging on drummers, I just couldn't help myself

Christ, just looking at the stuff I'd think I'd have a better shot at doin brain surgery than that.....

[ELVIS]

It's not easy, i'll give you that...

[kwame k]

Christ, just looking at the stuff I'd think I'd have a better shot at doin brain surgery than that.....

The numbers correspond to the frets you play, starting with the number to the left and the bottom of the staff.

Igo, if a drummer can figure it out

[jhale667]

Ouch, man!

The numbers correspond to the frets you play, starting with the number to the left and the bottom of the staff.

Igo, if a drummer can figure it out

OK, that was funny. The Drummer's got it right, Igo - String are as if you laid the guitar flat in your lap; low to high.



The numbers in the tab represent the fret location on each respective string.

Notice I did 'em so there aren't even suggested fingerings (as is the case with some transcriptions) the idea being that you come up with what works best for you.

I mean, some guitarists use their pinky; others refuse, and would rather not use it to fret a chord unless they have to My teacher was like "You're born with four fingers on your fretting hand, why wouldn't you use them all?" But let's assume one does.

It kinda depends on your own reach, but I find the most economic way to play, say, the long G major example:



OK - looking at that one, factoring in A ) I use my pinky and B ) I have a better-than average fret-stretch with my left hand, this seems to be the most logical fingering to me (low to high "-"= whole-step ","= half)


1-2-4 (again, low E)
1-2-4
1,2-4
1,2-4
1-3,4

But hey, for one of the "my pinky is a useless stump" dudes, that's a lot of "4"s. They would have to approach it differently, but to each his own.

[kwame k]

Great, now I'm confused

[ELVIS]

You and Gar both suck...

[jhale667]

OK, here's the real "Keys to the City", as it were...

Any discussion of guitar playing and music would pretty much be remiss if it didn't touch on the circle of fifths and basic theory. But rather than deal with recopying my notes, found a much cooler graph of it online.

The Circle of Fifths




Keys are not considered closely related to each other if they are near each other in the chromatic scale (or on a keyboard). What makes two keys "closely related" is having similar key signatures. So the most closely related key to C major, for example, is A minor, since they have the same key signature (no sharps and no flats). This puts them in the same "slice" of the circle. The next most closely related keys to C major would be G major (or E minor), with one sharp, and F major (or D minor), with only one flat. The keys that are most distant from C major, with six sharps or six flats, are on the opposite side of the circle.


The circle of fifths gets its name from the fact that as you go from one section of the circle to the next, you are going up or down by an interval of a perfect fifth. If you go up a perfect fifth (clockwise in the circle), you get the key that has one more sharp or one less flat; if you go down a perfect fifth (counterclockwise), you get the key that has one more flat or one less sharp. Since going down by a perfect fifth is the same as going up by a perfect fourth, the counterclockwise direction is sometimes referred to as a "circle of fourths".


One you kinda understand that, and scale formulas, you realize that the third degree of a minor scale is the first note of it's relative major (like e-G in the above example), and conversely the fifth degree of a major scale determines the minor (G-e)...it all starts to make sense...