[mapletrees]

Originally posted by mapletrees:
What are you using for reading?

The vast majority of people who start on the guitar don't learn how to read. The vast majority of seriously good guitarists know how to read. Somebody out there do the math.


One suggestion, subscribe to Fingerstyle magazine....you won't lack for things to practice! They usually have the chord names above each line of music so you can see and understand the harmony involved - that's highly instructional. You can see how someone (a world class player always) turns a three chord song like Silent Night into a twenty chord song....and probably (definitely) chord voicings you've never seen before.....

Another suggestion, do you have any info from interviews or what not as to what Dave Mathews' background/education as far as music and/or guitar is? Who his influences were? are? What does he play when he's not playing his own music? If you like an artist, it might be worthwhile to trace his/her steps....For instance, if he studied fingerstyle jazz from Howard Morgen for three years and you haven't done something comparable, mmmmmmmm....he's got you licked. Does he play other instruments? He certainly plays the guitar with a superior sense of rhythm compared to most.....has he played the bongos(sp?) since age 3?

Do you know your triads and their inversions on all four string sets yet....know them cold? Jeepers creepers, I still don't know them all well enough to recall them instantly....still takes a few seconds for some....that's not good enough (not even close) if I'm trying to use them for improv like Larry Carlton....I'm going to be a couple more years!

Getting back to Dave M