Practice Plan, Suggestions ?? After reading oldhippiegal posting ..

[HHP]

I guess I'll throw out the dissenting opinion. Most people decide to learn guitar or any instrument out of a desire to play some type of music that touched them. The problem with method books is that they are unlikely to get you to the music that motivated you in the first place.

Instead of scales, exercises, etc, concentrate on learning a small selection of the music you like. Then supplement your repetoire with the techniques and methods that will allow you to expand or enhance the music. Get to the music that you like as soon as possible and learning in that context will come a lot easier and will not seem to be a task or effort. Adding technique will come easier as you will be using it in a musical context.

[Doctor Who]

This could help...

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images...0.practice.pdf

[daza152]

Originally Posted by Badfrog

I've been playing for about a year now and early on I used a book similar to what you're using and I had an instructor. The book was nice and all for starting out and it got me going with the basics. However, that book is now long gone and is a thing of the past. Though I'm a heck of a lot better guitar player than what I was 6 months ago, I wouldn't be able to open that book up and instantly start playing songs out of it......... and frankly I don't care because that's not the music I want to play anyways. Just keep practicing, it will get better.

And yes, I hated the music notation for chords and never did learn to read them (I like reading single notes or doubles but chords are just too much to look at). I just marked the chord names on the pages.

Hey mate, Iam about the same nearly been a full year probably Feb, it will be and thats playing full on even though I picked it up to learn twicw before that. and I feel like I have come along way too. These days I just play songs and funny thing thing is the songs I like are just open chord songs like my latest Drops of Jupiter by Train. I find that I need to sing along to my songs or they kinda sound redundant in that they don't really sound like the song unless you sing and then it makes sense. enjoy the journey!!

[jasperguitar]

Professor B .. the man ..

"Learn how to make 'em. Learn what notes are in a chord (formulas)"

I spent the last few hours, going over notes on the fret board,
working on the chord structures.. etc.

The old One, Three, Five..

I got picking out chords.. following your advice.

It is very helpful.

As I get better with the entire fret board.. I feel really
empowered..

I am also memorizing chord shapes.. as I go.

Thanks for pushing me.. I need it.

[mr. beaumont]

Glad it helps.

I'm not against memorization, just memorization without backup knowledge. In the process that you go through, you'll not only memorize a bunch of shapes, but you'll also start to see more connections between the chords--and that's key. It will make the memorization happen faster and the recall quicker as well.

Plus, it's fun when somebody asks me "How many chords do you know?" And I can say honestly "all of them."

[jasperguitar]

Being as I played the trumpet for years, I tend to approach
the guitar from that background.

Rather than sit and play songs, I get a kick out of going over
the fretboard, picking out notes.. up and down.

I'm not fully there yet.. but each day I work my way from one end
of the guitar fretboard to the other.. playing notes.

I'm getting the hang of the tonic/root . Starting to see the
relationship ..

Now.. when I can't form a chord.. I go to the tonic/root.. start with
the whole whole half .. or the whole half. Find the notes..

I can play a bunch of chords up the board now. I like that.

[mr. beaumont]

Stick with the "whole whole half" (major scale) and the formula. View all chord building in terms of the major scale. Then the formulas are always the same.

[oldhippiegal]

heya, jasperguitar, late to the discussion, where you've had great answers, I think.

It sounds like you're learning more than one thing--harmonics/theory, the fretboard, open chords and chord shapes. All of those things will take time. Be patient with yourself, take one day at a time, one task at a time, do each one with focus and stay "in the moment" and you'll get the most of your time.

YMMV, but I list all the things I want to work on, like this:

• scales
• arpeggios
• intervals
• increased speed at all of above
• fretboard work--learning shapes for inversions of various aug/dim/oddball chords is just where I am--if you're at learning shapes of major and minor or if you're learning shapes of dom/Ma7, also cool.
• Arranging standards
• Composing
• slaps and other rhythmic devices
• Add more fingerstyle patterns, and practice them with various fingers if applicable
• learning specific songs on three DVDs I have; learning songs from sheet music I have (And I have an ongoing list of the next ten songs in order, which represents a year of work; I might change the order as I go along
• playing along with the MP3 player--ear training, picking out new riffs or patterns, whatever appeals
• sight-reading (I kept my 3 Mel Bay books and printed out classical pieces off Dirk's classical site that I use for this)
• Repertoire--or else I'll forget all those old songs. And it's fun to just play
• Improv in blues
• Watch random video instruction for variety/challenge

Then I prioritize and get realistic. I'm limited by pain to about 15 hours per week of practice/play, so I cannot do all that every day. There are things I only do on weekends, so they get done (sight-reading, random video, mp3 learning time) but don't cut into my core practice time of technique and new songs.

You, or anyone, might have a different list, and it might include studying theory, ear training, working through written exercises in some workbook, etc. I keep a guitar journal--I did it daily for three or four months, and now I add something twice a week (I'm not improving very quickly right now, so there's no reason to keep saying that daily). This can be helpful to some people.

Also, improvement occurs, if one were to chart it, in stair steps, long phases of nothing feeling like it's moving and then suddenly one day, you're better, a big step up. I find I feel like I'm really improving for a few weeks, and that's really fun, then I plateau again. Having been through it several times, I'm no longer worried by the plateaus.

HTH, and keep at it!

[jasperguitar]

old hippie .. I was a kinda hippie I think..

I am using a little trick I saw in the net to get the fret
board into the head/hand/fingers..

I read music, so I just pick the notes and play the tune.. note
to note.. but.. I play up above the 5th fret..

I go real slow.. just pick a note at a time.. really helps..

I'm making some progress.. getting the hand of the fret board/neck
is helpful, not I can find the roots/tonics..

I want to start doing some finger picking.. but step by step I guess....

[golfer]

jasper; I may be able to help. I also come from a position of playing the trumpet [quite well in my time] to wanting to play guitar. I have been playing about 3 years now and had to go through some developmental phases.
I could read music, but could not apply it to my new instrument. Here is a synapse of what I am doing.
1. Learn the frett board and all the frett board patterns. Did you know there are 7 patterns to the frett board that repeat themselves and give you the key to being able to play in any key or even to change keys?
2. Learn and understand the Nashville Numbering System. Ie: figure out what a 1,3,5 chord is and how you can use it in your music.
3. Begin to learn and understand how to build chords without even knowing what they are. Others here can give you more info than I on this process.
4. Learn all you can about music theory and how it applies to your instrument.
5. Not necessarily in order, but, learn some songs, lean how to finger pick and use the pick. Learn some strumming techniques. Learn some more songs. If you are not learning songs to play, IMO you will get tired of items 1 thru 4 real quick. Learning to play your songs is the reward for your hard work.
6. Learn to read music below the bottom staff line and above. Most trumpet players rarely play much below a C and above a A at both ends of the staff. The guitar goes to a low E and a high G in the first 12 fretts.
I hope this is some help. Ask a lot of dumb questions here. For some reason, folks here have not figured out just how dumb I am and the continue to attempt to answer my unintelligent querries.
The toughest part for when asking a question is not knowing the guitar language to ask about music theory.
IMO, the guitar has much more depth than the trumpet, ie; you can play a base line at the same time as the melody.
Good luck and best wishes.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Stick with the "whole whole half" (major scale) and the formula. View all chord building in terms of the major scale. Then the formulas are always the same.

This is the approach that I take in the paper I mentioned earlier in this thread. My viewpoint is that there is really not much theory one needs to learn initially, and the theory that is useful builds on itself very logically and is immediately of practical use:

1. There is a set of all the notes you have to work with - the 12 notes of the chromatic scale
2. There is a template (wwhwwwh) applied to the collection of 12 notes, starting on any note, that yields the 12 major scales. The minor scales are derived from the major scale with a adjustments, and the pentatonic scale can likewise be derived from the major scale. Treat the major scale as the "Default" starting point for all that is to follow.
3. Chords can be derived from the major scale, using a set of chord "templates". Once you learn how to "spell" chords (i.e. major=1,3,5 minor 1,b3,5, etc.) and you know the notes on the guitar fretboard, you voice any chord anywhere on the fretboard.
4. The "harmonized major scale" is built by stacking thirds, and will provide you with the primary set of chords you would use in any key.

The way I learned the notes on the guitar fretboard was via a deceptively simple exercise provided in Ted Greene's "Chord Chemistry". Every day, pick ONE note at random on the fretboard. Find that note, starting at its lowest position on the 6th (lowest) string, and move along each string in turn finding that note. When you reach the highest location of that note on the first string, retrace your steps, ending back on the lowest position of that note on the 6th string. Over a period of a couple of weeks, in painless daily steps, you will really know the fretboard. Then you can start building your chords as you need them.

The CAGED system, which I discuss at length in my paper as directly applied to the fretboard (and so do many, many other people in various books and materials), is essentially a "shorthand" means of playing the same chord along the fretboard seamlessly. There are 5 CAGED forms, and each has its own "box" for the various scales, as well as serving as the starting point for building any chord.

This is pretty much it. Take this bit and start applying it to playing music, and it gets better over time, as does most anything we put some focused, structured time into.

Though nobody in this thread has picked up on my post about the paper I wrote, I will say that it is quite complete, runs about 70 pages, and gives you quite a bit of practical material to work with on a daily basis. It is free and has been around a long time and a lot of folks have used it. I rarely mention it, but felt that this thread might have some folks who could benefit from it.

Tony

[golfer]

tebltrans; you did that so good. Is your paper available for us to review?

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by golfer

tebltrans; you did that so good. Is your paper available for us to review?

Yes, here is my earlier post from this thread:

In addition, I wrote a paper back in 1995 that provides a practical explanation of how scales are derived from from the chromatic scale (i.e. the set of notes we all have to work with), how chords are derived from the major scale, and how to apply this information to the guitar fretboard so you can, as Mr. Beaumont says - build your own chords. I also provide a daily practice regimen to get all the information I present in the paper, into your hands. Many people over the years have used this paper to good advantage. It has withstood the test of time and is free. Here is one place, among many, where you can find it:

http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneych...odylesson.html


There are other places on the net that post it and somebody made a PDF of it. If I find that site again, I can post that URL here too.

Edit: http://www.scribd.com/doc/20970330/1...-MELODY-GUITAR
(a PDF version that you can download)


Tony

[msr13]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

You can get to where it's automatic. So like you're playing an F7, and you want to hear an F9, and you grab a G instinctively. It happens with practice and time, but it does happen.

Great thread! Whenever I get frustrated with the pace of my learning, or a particular skill is still out of reach, I pull out the videos of my daughter learning to walk. She delighted in falling down, trying to grab things to hold onto, etc. But, mostly it took her a lot of practice. I think we forget that even the most basic skills require lots of work-- let alone complex ones like making music.