It's amazing who you bump into in supermarkets.I was in a Wall-Mart supermarket ( Asda U.K.) in Hull,East Yorkshire,recently,and I bumped into my old mate Trevor Bolder and his son.Trevor,all you Bowie fans know,was the bass player in the 'Spiders from Mars',with Hull born guitarist Mick Ronson. Mick,in his early days,occasionally used to come & watch me and my band play. I am a little older than he was,and by 1963/4,I'd already been playing about 6 years,so at that time was more advanced.Th
This week is just more of the same of last week.
Playing all of the arpeggios diatonic to Cmaj in position 6/2. Still on Cmaj7 and Dmin7 of the 6/4.
Although, I am thinking that I probably ought to make sure that I can play every version of Cmaj7, Dmin7, etc in 6/2 before I really dig into position 6/4. That way I can really move easily between chords and single notes before I move to another position. Once I get that down, I will move to the 6/4 and then do the same. Scales, arpeggios,
Well, today I am out of work due to hurt ribs. I don't know what I did other than get older but boy does it hurt. No playing today but plenty up to this point.
Last week I mentioned I was working the Cmaj scale in the 6/2 position as well as the Cmaj Pentatonic scale in the same position and was starting on the A Aeolian scale also in the Cmaj 6/2 position.
In that theme, I have been playing the arpeggios for Cmaj7 Ionian, Dmin7 Dorian, Emin7 Phrygian, Fmaj7 Lydian, G7 Mixolydian, Amin7
Productive week.
I have still been running the scales as I mentioned in the previous weeks but now I am starting on A Aeolian. First running the normal scale which is, of course, exactly like the Cmaj scale but with the root moved to A. Next, I run Amin7 arpeggio as far as I can carry it in that position. Then the pentatonic scale of A Aeolian.
So far, I am only practicing in the 6/2 position of Cmaj for A Aeolian.
What little knowledge I have aquired in really hammering these scales
Last week I mentioned that I was just beating on the C scale and all of its positions: 6/1, 6/2, 6/4, 5/1, 5/2, 5/4 and open positions.
This week is sort of the same but with a variation: running the CMaj7 arpeggio and the C pentatonic scale. Again, running these in all of the positions mentioned above.The great thing about it is you have an opportunity to really familiarize yourself with the parts of the scale (with the fourth interval being notably absent in everything but the full major s
This past week has really been something! It is amazing what even a little time with a teacher can do! Before I was merely understanding what my theory and practice books were saying. Now, they have context! THAT IS HUGE! Since I discovered this, I went back to the beginning. Going through simple chords and drills.
Before I mentioned that I was going through the C Major scale with the root starting on different fingers such as 6/1, 6/4 and so on. For the past week, I have been playing the C
Well, today is a sad day in my studies, but I stand by it for the reasons I have are good. There isn't much in this world that will come between me and music, but my children are 3 of those handful of possible interferences. I don't know if I have mentioned it much on here, but both of my daughters have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and, although they are responding well to their treatments, those treatments are coming at a cost. That cost coupled with the cost of my time with Sal have had a not
As mentioned last week, Sal has another engagement so this is another week without a get together. The previous cancellations were on me due to work.
So, what I have been doing is, in the key of F major, playing solely in chord tones for Fmaj7 all the way up the neck. Those notes are sung "Do-Mi-So-Ti" for intervals 1, 3, 5 and 7. The notes are F, A, C and E.
*F(E/1) = note of F played on the E string at the first fret
In F:
Going up
F(E/1) A(A/0) C(A/3) E(D/2) F(D/3) A(G/2) C(B/1)
I had to cancel. Work has been just been gangbusters and I have had to stay late.
Bummer is, Sal won't be there next week... so that is ANOTHER week I will miss.
It is getting frustrating to say the least. What is getting more frustrating is I feel like i have hit a plateau in the areas I want to advance in. I am still gaining in other areas but just a bit frustrating. Won't stop me by any means.
So, what I have been doing is more of the same. I am working with a vamp of I-vi-ii-V7
Hi,
Sometimes things happen that you're not aware of at the time,and you find out later,sometimes with pride,sometimes with shame,but seldom,both at the same time.My Gibson L5 was wearing on the frets.I live in the North of England,and in the early '70's ,there were very few luthiers up here,and none I knew personally.So,I had to look to London.Now,I'd been using Emile Grimshaw for many years,but for some unknown reason,I decidied to take my L5 to Ivor Mairants,in the West End of London,probab
This week I got held at work so there was another cancellation. What I did was pretty much a continuation of last week.
I played the diatonic chords in a key. They I would go up the chord tones then own the scale over each chord. Change keys and start over making sure to call out the name of the chord that I was playing over as I played it so that I wasn't just going through a motion but internalizing the information. Then I would go back and play chords or go up chord tones and down scale t
Sorry for the late post. My wife had something to attend so I had to cancel this week but had plenty to practice on.
What I did was keep running with the I-vi-ii-V7 vamp and then started to play only root-3rd movements. Never varied. Just stayed on root-3rd. All over the neck where ever the root and third of these chords showed up.
Now, another little exercise I have been doing is playing diatonic chords. For C, it would be Cmaj7, Dmin7, Emin7, Fmaj7, G7, Amin7, Bmin7b5.
Along those
Just been searching through some old photos,and I came up with on of a band I was with in 1968.We were called 'Quadrant',and we did jazzy latin stuff & pops of the day.If you take a look at the photo I posted in my album,I'm playing a Gibson L5 that I had recently purchased.I still have this guitar.I loaned it to Joe Pass for one night to do a seminar in London in th '70's .I was playing it through a 2 x 15" Fender Showman cab,& a 'Bandmaster' head.Instant 'Wes' ! The guy with long hair
This week's lesson got moved back a day as Sal had a gig so it was Wednesday instead of Tuesday as per normal.
The week previous, we decided it was time to start learning to improv. He picked Beyond the Sea. I love the song but I would be lying if I said that song didn't make me nervous due to the rate it goes through chords (every two beats it changes). Last night, it finally occured to me the disconnect I have between the notes and their sound. I know songs as changing positions on the fin
Ok, got back into the groove of things with last night's meeting with Sal.
The week leading up to last night wasn't much better in terms of practicing. I was prepared to go in there and honestly show no movement from the last time we met. I got there way early as I have to leave early to get there on time. I will either get there an hour early or a half hour late with how Atlanta traffic is between my work and where I take the lessons.
I ended up getting there about an hour and a half e
There isn't much to tell this week. I had to cancel the lesson. Too much going on at home with a daughter with Rheumatoid Arthritis and an 8 month old baby and another daughter with orthodontist appointments and me having to get a filling replaced for me.... and Valentines Day coming up which ultimately our plans got snowed out.
So, I really didn't much playing time in since the Week 11 entry. Maybe a couple of hours and that might be generous.
Just continuing on with learning Beyond the
Having navigated the waters of Beyond the Sea (pun intended) numerous times... enough to be comfortable with the changes, I went into this week's lesson ready to go with it.
It was fun being able to jam with Sal on another song. Having him pick up a melody line on top of the backing chords and embellish some.
His challenge to me this week is expanding the backing chords into utilizing the melody in the chord changes. That is to allow the melody to dictate to me the chords I use as oppose
Not much to tell this week really.
Sal has a gig so we didn't get together this week.
I am getting more comfortable with the changes in Beyond the Sea and continuing to play Autumn Leaves.
On YouTube, for Beyond the Sea, I play along with the Robbie Williams version because it has footage from Finding Nemo on it. haha.
I started this week figuring I would have to cancel the next two lessons because money is just too tight right now. I called Sal up on Monday to let him know and he insisted I come anyway. "Don't worry about the bread," he said. "It's more important to me that we keep this going."
That meant more to me than anything I could put on here. That definitely signaled to me that I wasn't just a half-hourly pay.
That coolness aside, we immediately dug into Beyond the Sea. That song really moves
Alright, I am back meeting with Sal after a couple if missed weeks.
We jumped right in with learning All of Me and then later in the lesson picking up on Beyond the Sea. These were songs of my request as they are in constant play in the ol' iPod.
I got a bit of a jump on the lesson as I get there early. He gave me the sheet music for All of Me and let me use a teaching room not in use to get familiar while I wait.
This song is another great example of how chord tones can make the li
Sort of a bummer of a week on a couple of fronts. Mainly because the boy - 6 month old son- got an eye infection which babies are prone to get but also, and leastly, I had to cancel my meeting with Sal to tend to his needs. Don't regret it, just a bummer.
Anyways, the upside on both counts is that the boy is better and the week off from Sal I have seen as HUGELY beneficial.
How? Well, it gave me a couple of weeks to practice what I have picked up and not having more piled on every week.
As posted last week, Sal and I weren't getting together this week. Still thought I would post anyways as I am still working on it regardless. This time without a get together with Sal has proven helpful too. I am able to really play around with what I have learned and beat it into my head a bit more as opposed to learning it just a little before I get a mess more crammed in there.
So, it is more of the same. Autumn Leaves played all kinds of ways. Doing some minor improv stuff. Very, very mi
Alrighty.
Week 5 was great, but I will get to that. I figure I should put more in detail what I am doing with what Sal teaches me for those interested so..... here goes.
Since my week 4 meeting with Sal, I have been using Autumn Leaves as my playground a bit as I am more familiar with it and using Georgia on my mind as more theoretical study. Which is proving just as helpful.
On Autumn Leaves, I have experiemented a bit on that one like I mentioned. I would play it straight the way I
