Or we try to do it all, but that usually ends up with similar results (or a bunch of half-finished stuff).
A quick way to “end the madness” is to STOP.
What EXACTLY do you want to to learn?
Make a SIMPLE list of actions you need to DO to learn it.
What is the NEXT logical action you should take?
For example, let’s say you want to learn how
to play guitar solos. Not just copy them from your favorite guitar
master, but you yourself be able to fluidly move up and down the neck,
riffing like a guitar god.
Where do you start?
Well, we know everything in music has a
pattern. We know there are patterns for melody (this is where soloing
falls), harmony (chords - wasn’t Steve Krenz great last night?), and rhythm
(the beat).
Since soloing is our goal, and it is part of melody, what is the most basic pattern of melody? The scale.
"Which one do I learn first," you ask?
"There’s only a million different scales!” (This is where we instructors
end up giving too much information!)
Let me turn the question around on you.
Do you know the first basic scale inside and out?
No? Great, that’s where you start!
You start with the C major scale.
Why C major?
Because. That’s where you start. I’m not going to go into why, because that’s more information than you need.
You need to know how to play
the C major scale in one position on the neck. Then you need to learn
where to play it on the next section of the neck. And so on, until you
have covered the first twelve frets on your guitar.
Now trust me when I tell you this:
I WANT to tell you
everything I know about the notes and modes and positions and numbering
and different types of scales and blah, blah, blah…
But I’m not doing you any favors by giving you that information - because you’re not ready for it!
Until you can play the scale backwards and
forwards up and down the neck in the different positions, none of the
other scale types are going to make a lot of sense to you.
Alright. Let’s quit goofing around.
Do this:
The C note in first position shows up in two
places. Fifth string, third fret and second string, first fret. You can
consider first position on the fingerboard to be anywhere within the
first four frets on the fingerboard.
Your job is to now find
every C note on the guitar neck between the nut (that thick white piece
of plastic at the top of the neck where the strings lay) and the twelfth
fret (your guitar should have two dots on the fingerboard at the
twelfth fret). You can download and print a fretboard diagram over at fretjam.com.
Once you find them, pay attention to where each one is in relation to the others.
Each place you find a C note is a place you
can start playing the scale. If you know what the scale sounds like
(just listen to Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music), you can find each of
the notes and play the scale from any position on the neck.
If you’re a little more advanced, pick a
different note to find. Find all the B notes, or F# (F sharp) notes, or whatever.
You use the same scale pattern as we do with C. Even though the notes are different, the scale still sounds the same.
This is a good exercise even
if you’re already good at playing chords and riffs.
It’ll shake up your
routine and force you to think outside your normal routine, so don’t
cheat yourself.
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