Any Ah-Ha Moments lately

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Permalink Reply by Dan Gawry on November 28, 2010 at 9:23am

HI Michael. I do happen to know of such a course. It's called"The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar". It's for beginners and players. The best thing you can do is go to website.Just google "guitar principles", her name mis Jamie Andreas. One of the greatest pitfalls in learning that really hinders progress is tension. She teaches you how to overcome tension, which can be a real progress hinderance. Best to go to website. Very reasonable cost and well worth it. I have had occasion to call them and are they ever easy to get. Had a question for them and they put Jamie on the phone and we talked about 10 min or so. Ck out for yourself and I think you will be very pleased. Dan Gawry

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Permalink Reply by Michael & Kody on November 28, 2010 at 8:45pm

Thanks, Dan...

i will google, and see whats up....appreciate your taking the time out for me........may add you as a friend, if there is such a thing in this forum, will look into it...............p.s. not to sure about replying to everyones response or can everyone see all responses, dont know, but thank you, hope you persevere, so many variables to comprehend, great exercise for the cerebral vortex oblongata........keep pluckin

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Permalink Reply by Ken Rogers on November 28, 2010 at 9:43am

Play with others, as many as you can as often as you can. It's amazing how much you learn that way.

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Permalink Reply by Michael & Kody on November 28, 2010 at 8:49pm

ken, thanks, yea, theres a Jam session on fri and sat at this warehouse in town, they play all genres, but i find im not advanced enough to follow along very far; i hate to keep asking, Whats the Chord Progression?, I sound like a nut. I hope, soon i can pick out the proper key and chord progression, then, i think ill have some fun with it.......thanks again..............................Happy Trails.........

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Permalink Reply by Walt Pilcher on November 29, 2010 at 7:17am

Michael,
One thing that might help you is to get a list of the songs they do most often, then go online to sites that publish the chords to the songs, and print them out. Then you will have the sheets to look at when you play with the group (assuming that's "allowed" by this group - actually, there may be others in the group who would want to do the same thing.). The only caution is that some of the sites may show different chord progressions from what the group plays, or maybe they're in a different key, but you can make adjustments. It's better than nothing. Eventually, you'll probably learn how to figure out what the group is playing without having to have these sheets, but meanwhile it's a lot more fun. Here are three of those sites. www.chordie.com www.ultimate-guitar.com www.cowboylyrics.com
The easiest way is to go to Google and type in, for example, "Good Night Irene chords" (without the quotation marks) and choose from what comes up.
Walt

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Permalink Reply by Serapion on November 28, 2010 at 9:45am

I have been playing for about three years and still consider myself very much a beginner. I read a lot and checked out all sorts of method books. I found that I was learning, but my skill was not developing. I could talk music and guitar very, very well, but could not play. Well, I could play, but it was not interesting. A few months ago I started taking lessons. While I will not comment one way or the other on the teacher, I think the greatest value I have taken from lessons is the one-on-one interaction. I have direct and immediate feedback about what I am doing and how to improve it. Where I have trouble with hammer ons, he gives me a few exercises to improve those. Where I have trouble with aim (getting my fretting fingers to the right fret in time) he gives me exercises for those too. Sure, I could have researched and developed those on my own, but he already has them in his tool box, ready to go, as we see a need. He also explains theory questions and answers my questions. I get the explanation from books, but finding the answers to a specific question or ensuring I understand correctly is not always easy from a book, That being said, the books are great resources too. For almost every new concept he presents, I have plenty of additional resource material in my own library to read or practice and develop further. The ah'ha moment then? Lots of books and resources are great for expansive knowledge. Teacher is great to focus it. But most importantly, I believe, is the drive to do it all ... the "need" to learn. Without that, it's just too much work!

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Permalink Reply by Michael & Kody on November 28, 2010 at 8:58pm

your right, it is over bearing at times. However, as you and others say, must be highly motivated, right. Yea, that the main answer i believe. It is alot of fun, and has to be good for your mental state.........i have found personally I get the best knowledge from the Master course im taking online but, if i want to learn, or try to learn a tune, the Video and Dvd books, PDF files, are most helpful...........also, looking forward to getting the Acoustic Mag Subscription i ordered, but doesnt start till Feb, yet ordered in October...........gee, why so long..........dont know....................hang in, keep frettin, see ya round the forum, the concert thing was a joke, maybe.........merry xmas.............thanks

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Permalink Reply by Newbie Dean on November 29, 2010 at 11:26am

I haven't noticed the answer to one of your questions: What is a Chord Progression? My coach explains it this way: it is a set of chords that GO together. I found a site a while back that had the basic chord progressions for the Major Keys. for example, in the key of A, the basic chords that GO with it are A, F#m, D and E. If you play these in any order, they sound good. Try interjecting a C or a G into that "progression and your ears will rebel! If a song is in the Key of A, these are the basic chords that will make up that song. I have also been able to transpose songs between keys by using these progressions If you match A with G, F#m with Em, D with C and E with D you witll have changed the song to the key of G.. Google chord progressions and you will find many sites with explanations. Keep it FUN Dean

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Permalink Reply by Ray on November 30, 2010 at 2:39pm

If you are struggling through the early stages of music theory, I would suggest Music Principles for the Skeptical Guitarist by Bruce Emery. The book will walk you through a good basic understanding of music theory and how it applies to the guitar. He also has a follow-up book for players interested in more advanced theory. And he has plenty of other books, too. He responds readily to e-mail inquiries and is a very good instructor, if you ever get the chance to attend one of his classes.

You can order the books from this website: http://www.skepticalguitarist.com/books.htm

And if you are tired of buying the books, you might ask your local public library to purchase them. And while you are there, you might look over what it in the library's collection.

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Permalink Reply by Michael & Kody on November 30, 2010 at 3:35pm

Great idea about the library thing and ill check out the web referals too. I have discovered that by purchasing alot of items, i pick up a few things but then some are really bad. Also, as you say, some dont have the original music translations, they have been transposed numerous times. Me, if im going to buy something, i want the original Notes. If neccessary ill make any transpositions of chords i cant master or whatever. Too often people tabs online are incorrect. They have changed them to suit thier abilities, know what i mean. Being a newbie, im not sure that this is a bad thing, but does seem odd if their selling it as the original work..........My situation is that im not sure I need to know all the notes on the fretboard rightaway, thats what this course im taking is trying to accomplish. Im sure as time goes by this knowledge becomes evident, however, memorizing the fretboard is not my cup of tea. Although, the theory is good, for instance the ww1/2, www1/2 thing and so on.........but gee, sure would like to get some majic going to motivate my efforts. See, in order to utilize the www 1/2 theory, in actual finginering/playing, you must know the notes. If not then your back to reading tab #s..........so so much to learn...........recently, i have been working /practicing scales, since i enjoy fingerpicking and soloing more so that just chord strumming. Im not sure how to fit the scales into a situation though. I keep hereing , playing scales over chords, quote............oh well, thanks for your help and stay in touch................im pluking away as we speak If you have access to Pandora, listen to the STEEL GUITAR station, search for it........great acoustic stuff to listen to, no comercials either............SEE YA, THANKS

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Permalink Reply by Tom on November 30, 2010 at 5:49pm

here is my favorite- Complete Acoustic Guitar Method by Greg Horne (Alfred)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0739066382/ref=oss_product

The link above is for the beginner/intermediate/advanced combo book. I love this book. There are numerous techniques and styles - all of which are enforced with fun drills and cool songs (not corny).

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Permalink Reply by Michael & Kody on December 1, 2010 at 12:21am

thanks Tom, going to take a look now.................happy hollidays

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