I found it very useful to play with other people. Join a band, and learn the songs. You _have_ to keep up with the other musicians. As if by magic, chord changes will become quicker, and every now and then, you'll have a lightbulb moment when you suddenly understand something that opens up much more of the fretboard. Also, don't worry if you can't play as fast as the virtuoso guitarists, if you're not one (I'm not). No matter what level you play at now and in the future, if you enjoy playing, you'll achieve personal success.
For me, one of the best things about playing with others is that it helps my rhythm. Keeping good time tends to be my weak point, as someone who mainly plays solo fingerstyle or contemporary folk music. I go through periods when I play a lot with a metronome, which really helps. But the times when my timekeeping has been best were the times when I was regularly playing with others. -Tom
Thanks. That's what I'll do. Work on scales so I hear the tones, sing different melodies and find them and try and play what I hear you play. Thanks again for being so helpful.
This is the most helpful lesson video to me you've ever done. I would say I am probably terrible at what you just described, but because it makes sense I will be able to use the info meaningfully even if a little bit at a time. Thank you for doing this video. You don't need to respond to this.
Yesterdays chord discussion was great, today scales, you managed to put into words things I have been wrestling in my head for ages, sometimes you can get lost in what you are doing and forget why… thank you now I remember 😃😂 x x
I've now watched probably dozens of hours of your content but the middle bit of this video will help me more than anything. I've had a horrible go at trying to target specific intervals of the changing chords and making it sound anything other than robotic
Bro, your playing is absolutely awesome. Learning on my own or what I can gather on YT, makes these types of insight very useful. So Thank you for the advice.
Whatever you stop and figure out, must be learned everywhere on the neck... ie if you are concerned with scale such as Am, learn where it occurs over the entire neck, if you're doing an A flat arpeggio, extend it over the whole neck. By doing this you're not limited to a visible box, and can change in an instant if the underlying harmony changes. The other thing I'd mention is to play some random stuff, like radio, as you start to play along with it, and as another song begins you're forced to move before you can figure it out. This is the best way to learn on the fly without stopping to think.
Wow 2 Lesson in one Day, I pretty much learned by ear, in the early 70's there was no Pearl/INTERNET, no Tuners/except pitch pipe/tuning fork. It was amazing, that I subconciously knew the Chords that I was playing had the notes I was looking for. In about 72 the 1st real ROCK book for improvising came out, showed BOX system for pentatonics. Finally some better Theory Books came out that you could understand aimed at specifically Guitar. I should most likely looked for a better Teacher, but he wisely got me started on Barre Chords, after that I started feeling like, I was teaching him. I went in one lesson and played Slide guitar, and he asked where I got all that from. I told him this book, showed him a new book out on it, and I jammed to the Allman Bros. records, glad Duane played in Standard tuning mainly. Thanks for your insites into your learning. I had piano when real young, I can visualize the keyboard, it is the easiest instrument to see the NOTES on for sure.
Your list of tough keys on the guitar reminded me of a flashbulb moment. I think it was in an interview with Paul Simon from quite long ago; he pointed out that, besides the key of C, it's the keys with sharps in their key signatures that tend to "fit" on guitar, at least in terms of chords with comfortable fingerings. And maybe not going beyond 4 sharps-E, which for me happens to be the guitar's favorite key!. Your tough keys are the ones with flats in their signatures. And regarding the 4 sharps limit, it's probably not a coincidence that that's where the enharmonic keys start (5/6/7 sharps and flats). -Tom
Great advice & I myself am slowly discovering that -- in lieu of playing nicely with others -- practicing with drone notes makes the effort of learning & connecting scale positions a lot easier and more fun. In fact, Eric Johnson's first album starts with a drone chord & he would often (does he still do this?) begin his signature song live with a drone as well. Maybe that was the weird trick that helped him to develop his skill for seemingly endless pentatonic lines being played across so much of the fingerboard? Me, I don't really know beyond recognizing that there's all kinds of ways up the mountain some easy some not so easy & the takeways being as numerous. But I think the drone thing is interesting if only because it gives nod to fingerstyle blues where the thumb often outlines the root of the chord to anchor the ear -- and so many of us seem to prefer boarding a ship that carries an anchor.
Really interesting to hear you describe your process. Mine is very much the same (though results are not always as successful). I know the major scale pattern all over the neck as well as variations for harm minor etc. and when im improvising i'm trying to play what i hear in my head, using those shapes as a guide. I'm not consciously thinking about note names or scale degrees. Some of it is muscle memory, esp when using pentatonic shapes. Many youtube instructors talk about the value of ear training and targeting specific notes. My brain just doesn't work quickly enough to crunch the numbers in that way and if i hear a good note in my head and play it, is that less legit than knowing that i need to play the 9th next? The latter is just a more analytical way to arrive at the same result? I spent some time doing the ear training stuff and got pretty good at it in a test environment - diatonic, non-diatonic, multiple octaves, ascending, descending etc... but trying to apply this skill in the real world is a very different proposition. Everything is shaped by context. It's like the blue dress/gold dress scenario.
I think what you are getting at here is working to *jointly* build two skills: audiation (hearing music in your head, even when no music is playing), and being able to execute what you audiate on your instrument. This seems to me to be different than, say, separately working on recognizing musical patterns or ideas in your head, i.e., ear training, and trying to learn how to play something you are hearing, i.e., playing along to a performed melody. It seems to me you're talking about trying to explicitly link these two capabilities-which may be not so much a link between two skills but a separate kind of skill altogether. Well, I'm not sure that totally makes sense. Obviously. ;-) -Tom
Learn different keys, jam with artists. Try not to be too mechanical. Get ideas from others, but develop your own style. Play what is in your soul. Learn many scales.
I found it very useful to play with other people. Join a band, and learn the songs. You _have_ to keep up with the other musicians. As if by magic, chord changes will become quicker, and every now and then, you'll have a lightbulb moment when you suddenly understand something that opens up much more of the fretboard. Also, don't worry if you can't play as fast as the virtuoso guitarists, if you're not one (I'm not). No matter what level you play at now and in the future, if you enjoy playing, you'll achieve personal success.
For me, one of the best things about playing with others is that it helps my rhythm. Keeping good time tends to be my weak point, as someone who mainly plays solo fingerstyle or contemporary folk music. I go through periods when I play a lot with a metronome, which really helps. But the times when my timekeeping has been best were the times when I was regularly playing with others. -Tom
Thanks. That's what I'll do. Work on scales so I hear the tones, sing different melodies and find them and try and play what I hear you play. Thanks again for being so helpful.
This is the most helpful lesson video to me you've ever done. I would say I am probably terrible at what you just described, but because it makes sense I will be able to use the info meaningfully even if a little bit at a time. Thank you for doing this video. You don't need to respond to this.
Yesterdays chord discussion was great, today scales, you managed to put into words things I have been wrestling in my head for ages, sometimes you can get lost in what you are doing and forget why… thank you now I remember 😃😂 x x
Love this. So helpful to understand what's in your head and how you got there.
I've now watched probably dozens of hours of your content but the middle bit of this video will help me more than anything. I've had a horrible go at trying to target specific intervals of the changing chords and making it sound anything other than robotic
Thanks for motivating me to look at my scales again... really helpful question and answer!
your best strat tone yet. It's evolving every time.
Bro, your playing is absolutely awesome. Learning on my own or what I can gather on YT, makes these types of insight very useful. So Thank you for the advice.
Perfect- thanks JC. Lots of transcribing and scale/fretboard practice for me so.
Whatever you stop and figure out, must be learned everywhere on the neck... ie if you are concerned with scale such as Am, learn where it occurs over the entire neck, if you're doing an A flat arpeggio, extend it over the whole neck. By doing this you're not limited to a visible box, and can change in an instant if the underlying harmony changes. The other thing I'd mention is to play some random stuff, like radio, as you start to play along with it, and as another song begins you're forced to move before you can figure it out. This is the best way to learn on the fly without stopping to think.
Wow 2 Lesson in one Day, I pretty much learned by ear, in the early 70's there was no Pearl/INTERNET, no Tuners/except pitch pipe/tuning fork. It was amazing, that I subconciously knew the Chords that I was playing had the notes I was looking for. In about 72 the 1st real ROCK book for improvising came out, showed BOX system for pentatonics. Finally some better Theory Books came out that you could understand aimed at specifically Guitar. I should most likely looked for a better Teacher, but he wisely got me started on Barre Chords, after that I started feeling like, I was teaching him. I went in one lesson and played Slide guitar, and he asked where I got all that from. I told him this book, showed him a new book out on it, and I jammed to the Allman Bros. records, glad Duane played in Standard tuning mainly. Thanks for your insites into your learning. I had piano when real young, I can visualize the keyboard, it is the easiest instrument to see the NOTES on for sure.
Your list of tough keys on the guitar reminded me of a flashbulb moment. I think it was in an interview with Paul Simon from quite long ago; he pointed out that, besides the key of C, it's the keys with sharps in their key signatures that tend to "fit" on guitar, at least in terms of chords with comfortable fingerings. And maybe not going beyond 4 sharps-E, which for me happens to be the guitar's favorite key!. Your tough keys are the ones with flats in their signatures. And regarding the 4 sharps limit, it's probably not a coincidence that that's where the enharmonic keys start (5/6/7 sharps and flats). -Tom
Great advice & I myself am slowly discovering that -- in lieu of playing nicely with others -- practicing with drone notes makes the effort of learning & connecting scale positions a lot easier and more fun.
In fact, Eric Johnson's first album starts with a drone chord & he would often (does he still do this?) begin his signature song live with a drone as well. Maybe that was the weird trick that helped him to develop his skill for seemingly endless pentatonic lines being played across so much of the fingerboard?
Me, I don't really know beyond recognizing that there's all kinds of ways up the mountain some easy some not so easy & the takeways being as numerous. But I think the drone thing is interesting if only because it gives nod to fingerstyle blues where the thumb often outlines the root of the chord to anchor the ear -- and so many of us seem to prefer boarding a ship that carries an anchor.
Extraordinarily useful video mate
Really helpful video! Good prompt, and good thoughts. Tallies with things I've registered from Tommaso Zillio and Bryan Ewald. 👍
Nice intro
Really interesting to hear you describe your process. Mine is very much the same (though results are not always as successful). I know the major scale pattern all over the neck as well as variations for harm minor etc. and when im improvising i'm trying to play what i hear in my head, using those shapes as a guide. I'm not consciously thinking about note names or scale degrees. Some of it is muscle memory, esp when using pentatonic shapes.
Many youtube instructors talk about the value of ear training and targeting specific notes. My brain just doesn't work quickly enough to crunch the numbers in that way and if i hear a good note in my head and play it, is that less legit than knowing that i need to play the 9th next? The latter is just a more analytical way to arrive at the same result?
I spent some time doing the ear training stuff and got pretty good at it in a test environment - diatonic, non-diatonic, multiple octaves, ascending, descending etc... but trying to apply this skill in the real world is a very different proposition. Everything is shaped by context. It's like the blue dress/gold dress scenario.
Some really useful ideas there John - thank you - ?? hey is this a Helix preset today? Really digging that light breakup (is it in the folder?)
this one got the sub. peace.
I think what you are getting at here is working to *jointly* build two skills: audiation (hearing music in your head, even when no music is playing), and being able to execute what you audiate on your instrument. This seems to me to be different than, say, separately working on recognizing musical patterns or ideas in your head, i.e., ear training, and trying to learn how to play something you are hearing, i.e., playing along to a performed melody. It seems to me you're talking about trying to explicitly link these two capabilities-which may be not so much a link between two skills but a separate kind of skill altogether. Well, I'm not sure that totally makes sense. Obviously. ;-) -Tom
hi John
what processor you are using here?
thanks!
What guitar is that, and where can I get it?
K-Line
Your videos today inspired me . I finally signed up for guitar lessons today and unsubscribed from all TH-cam channels.
Smart move, you won’t regret that.
Learn different keys, jam with artists. Try not to be too mechanical. Get ideas from others, but develop your own style. Play what is in your soul. Learn many scales.
Just skip to @21:40 for the start of the ultimate advice. 👍
Spend years learning the scales, and then you discover every song you're ever asked to play uses minor pentatonic 😭
John is into self flagellation. Whips himself to sleep every night. This motivates him to excel at his craft. Along with dogs and ducks…
Great video @johnnathancordy !