#16
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Oh, one other thing...EllaMom, don't you take lessons from Steven King? What is his take on learning the fretboard? Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#17
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Tony, I did read that you said each string covers one octave thru the 12th fret. But I only just scanned it, so didn't 'translate' that in my mind to this: .....which MEANS each note only appears once on each string thru the 12th fret. I took piano as a kid, but did not retain the simple fact that there are 12 notes in an octave.
I love these little 'epiphanettes'! 😀
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Carol "We are music fingered by the gods." ~ Mark Nepo |
#18
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Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#19
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Thank you for posting this again. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Martin 000-15M Breedlove Studio Concert 12-string (2014 model) Cole Clark Angel 2 AN2EC-BLBL Gone and not forgotten: Gibson LG1 (1957 model) Norman B15 12-string (2003 model) |
#20
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Tony, I have been taking lessons with Steven, but because of a number of factors (holidays, snow and more snow, and other things not worth mentioning) I haven't had a lesson in a couple of months. Love Steven ... great guy!
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Carol "We are music fingered by the gods." ~ Mark Nepo |
#21
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Learn the C major scale up and down each string. Name the notes as you play them. Practice that for a week or two. Then move one key clockwise on the circle of 5ths (G major). Practice that for a week or two.
From there, you can go one more key clockwise (D major) or go one key counterclockwise from C (F major). As you work clockwise around the circle of 5ths, each new key adds one sharp. As you work counterclockwise, each new key adds one flat. Done this way, you'll be learning where the note are located on the fingerboard as well as the major scale in all keys along with the key signature of each. That's a lot of bang for the buck. Eventually you'll want to work out the scales across the neck in positions as well. |
#22
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FwL, I'm learning the scales, but in the first position, to memorize the fretboard, rather than up and down the string. I wonder what the pros/cons are for choosing one over the other first.
And here's a sort-of related question: How many old-time guitarists (think blues players from the 30s, for example) knew the names of the notes or chords they were playing? For some reason I had the impression that at least of them sort of 'figured out' in an organic way what notes sounded good together, what ones didn't, and developed their skills from there. I'm guessing that many of them didn't have books, teachers/lessons, at least not formally. Maybe I'm wrong about that tho.... hmmmm....
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Carol "We are music fingered by the gods." ~ Mark Nepo |
#23
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Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#24
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I suspect you are right about that. But then, many of us here are playing around with multiple styles and going in several directions. The blues guys had fairly strict song forms that would have limited the possibilities, so learning just a couple of chords in a couple of keys and some licks, probably got them a long way. Knowing the notes on the fretboard such that I can pick a note anywhere and quickly name it, really helps with anything I am studying, whether doing it by ear, or notation, or making something up. It is a very fundamental skill that informs everything I do on the guitar in standard tuning. If I play in alternate tunings, I don't bother with that unless I intend to stay in a tuning long enough to get a payoff from the effort. So far, standard tuning allows me to do pretty much what I want, though fooling around in an open or alternate tuning on occasion is fun and can provide a new perspective. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#25
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Learning scale positions first usually involves merely memorizing a shape or pattern of notes. Most people (including myself) who learn this way end up stuck in patterns instead of being free to go wherever the music would take you. Then you end up spending a lot of time trying to break free. If I had it to do over again I'd spend a lot of time early on working up and down the strings rather than memorizing patterns across the strings. |
#26
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Don't forget notes on paper, i.e. sheet music. Point at a note on the staff, Instantly play it all 9ver the neck.
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#27
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Speaking of paper. When I first decided to learn the fingerboard I thought it would be a good idea to draw a neck diagram with all the notes. That way I could just look at the diagram if I needed to find a note. By the time I had all the notes filled in on the diagram, I realized that I didn't need the diagram anymore. I was already seeing the pattern of how notes lay out on the fingerboard. A big revelation for me was seeing that the octave of any note is always sitting 2 strings over and 2 frets up.... unless you cross the B string. Everything moves up one fret when you cross the B string. It was just a matter of days and I was starting to pick out other intervals and seeing how they're always sitting in the same locations as well. I already new how to read pretty well from years of trumpet and baritone horn in school band, but your suggestion is a good one for somebody just learning. |
#28
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I find it a lot easier to sit in front of my piano. I then know the top string pretty well. Still getting there with the full fret board.
Any ideas or tips on getting started with fingerstyle? Should I get very solid with tab first? Or will that come with time? Right now I can play and strum along to most songs. Barre chords are no prob either. Especially since having all my guitars set up really well. |
#29
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Lot's of really good advice here. I just wanted to say that learning where the notes are is important, but we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss patterns, or "systems", be it CAGED or any other. The guitar is a visual instrument to some degree, which is why there are plenty of very musical, virtuosic players who don't think about note names when playing or can even name the chords they are playing over. Just knowing the notes will not necessarily give you any more freedom.
What they have, though, is very developed ears and a strong relationship with what they hear to the sounds on the guitar. Try this: put on, or better yet record, a simple chord progression of maybe four or so chords. Pick a starting note for the first chord. Now, when the chords changes, can you instinctively find the nearest suitable note to play over the next chord by hearing it in your head and then playing it? It will either be a note a semitone/tone either side of the note you're playing or maybe even staying on the note. This is a basic skill that when developed to long, coherent musical phrases means you will think less in note names or patterns and more in music. So my advice is, learn where the notes are, learn whatever system of mapping the fretboard until you can do it without much thought... but for those who want that "freedom" when playing, work on your ears and relating what you hear to the fretboard. If thinking about the name of the note you're playing is louder in your head than anticipating what you want to hear, you're no more free than someone thinking in a CAGED position. |
#30
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Shimmy, you articulated very well what I've been thinking and perhaps even tried to say in an previous post about early blues players. I'm guessing they didn't know the names of notes. They just knew where to find the "right" notes on the fretboard. Was it by rote memorization of where the "right" notes are on the fretboard (which doesn't imply knowing their names) or was it by figuring out certain patterns?
I can't help but think that eventually the decision of what to play next, when improvising, is somewhat automatic. Kind of like driving a car with a clutch and knowing when to engage and release the clutch when shifting gears. It becomes a kind of muscle memory. Well.....my muscles are very slow learners. That's all I know at this point!
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Carol "We are music fingered by the gods." ~ Mark Nepo |