Subject: Make Musical Progress with Patterns
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Guitar is a strange beast. By itself, it sits there unassuming but seductive, almost enticing you to strum its strings. It's a clever trickster, giving the impression that learning it will take no time and little effort, an illusion created through the work of the musicians we look up to.We see artists on videos and stages easily making music come alive through these wood and metal contraptions. The ruse is deceptive and sly. We are drawn in with visions of ourselves playing masterfully and enjoying fame and fortune. We beg and plead to get our hands on one of these instruments, and it is only then that realization hits and we begin to understand the task we have brought upon ourselves. Guitar is not an easy instrument to learn. As I've mentioned before, there are a lot of activities going on when we play guitar - the brain is busy telling the muscles when, where and how to place the fingers, hands and arms. Ears are listening and assessing the accuracy of what the muscles are doing, and facial expressions are being made. And we haven't even gotten to talking about the musicality of playing. This is why it's so important to recognize that the easiest approach to learning guitar is to memorize the patterns that present themselves. Let's dig a little deeper into that idea and list out the most common patterns you'll encounter. Tuning. Before you even start playing, you have to tune the strings. Five of the six strings are tuned to the perfect fourth interval. The B string is the exception, and it is tuned to a major third interval. Each interval is a pattern, and the tuning is a pattern. Scales. Each scale that you encounter is a pattern. The major scales, minor scales, pentatonic scales, modes, even the multitude of 'exotic' scales like those from China, India and Africa come from patterns. Chords. We've been talking quite a bit about chords, and as I've said, these are all patterns. Not to try and add confusion, but each guitar chord has a slew of locations and shapes you can use to play them. Honestly, you don't have to know more than a couple of the common shapes of each chord to make history - many multi-platinum selling songs have come out of a handful of basic chord shapes. Chord Progressions. Keeping with that vein of thought, chord progressions are the ways chords are organized to create a musical flow. There are many common chord groupings that work together well. These are patterns, too. Sound waves. We can even get down to the base elements of music, the waves themselves. Each sound we hear is a pattern that can be duplicated and repeated. Every pitch has its own sound wave pattern, and every musical instrument sound is created by a unique combination of sound waves, providing the timbre for each instrument. Instrument sound. Timbre is the attribute that differentiates a tuba sound from a guitar sound. It is determined by the types of wave patterns that make up a sound. There are sine waves, sawtooth waves, square waves, triangle waves and so on. Some of these sounds appear to be random, but patterns nonetheless. Patterns... You've used them in all areas of your life to learn and grow. Learning to walk, learning to speak, learning to tie your shoes. Learning to play guitar is really no different. You start with the first pattern by making sure the instrument is in tune. Proper tuning not only ensures that the notes and chords you play sound good, and it trains your ears to know when notes don't sound correct. It's good practice to tune your guitar every time you sit down to play. While it might seem a bit tedious, the tuning habit helps you develop your listening skills, which are critical for all musicians (both amateur and pro). Th next pattern is to memorize the notes of the basic major scale in the open position. You can do this by playing each natural note (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) in the first three frets on the fingerboard (up by the nut, headstock and tuners). By learning the position of each note and the patterns on each string, you'll memorize the string names (E, A, D, G, B, e in ascending pitch order) and the C major scale. As I've said before, you can then learn and memorize the five basic major chord shapes. Once you have those down, learn their minor chord shapes. You'll find that the same fingered shapes get used for major and minor chords based on the chords you're playing, but that's not really a problem. It's actually a plus for you because your fingers already know the fingering pattern on the strings, so they'll easily form the shapes. The great thing about all these patterns you learn is that they're repeatable. Anything that is repeatable helps you accelerate your learning because you've already conditioned your muscles with the pattern. At that point you just need to be aware of what you're trying to play - the muscles will take over automatically. If you keep practicing each shape, it becomes second nature. Once your fingers are on autopilot and you don't have to consciously think about where to put them, playing guitar becomes more like that vision you had at the beginning. Don't Give Up On Us, Baby... Learn the basic patterns. Do the little bit of work it takes to memorize the chord shapes and scales. Practice them slowly to ensure you are playing them cleanly and correctly. Good slow practice creates strength and confidence. Remember, anything worthwhile requires some work. Think about that for a minute or two and you'll agree. Embrace the basic fundamentals and you'll find they are the key to opening up your creativity and musicality. Rock on! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. 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