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Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 4 2009, 07:21 PM

so the other day i found a guitarist and drummer to play with out of craigslist

the guitarist said he was good...that he has been playing for 5-6 years so i thought cool he might be good enough to play with...







we meet up and start jamming.....the guitarist starts playing some funky progression....i ask him



"what note are you playing?"


he says "5"




i say "Ok the 5 chord of what key?"



he says "no no no 5!"


i say " what are you talking about?!?!? 5 is a number!!!! give me a LETTER!"

he points to his fretboard and says "5!!!!!!!!!!"

and then says "dont you know how to play guitar?"


"D is a note...5 is not a note...."


i just then left.


take this as a suggestion to all beginning guitarists: LEARN AT LEAST ENOUGH THEORY TO KNOW THE NOTES OF YOUR GUITAR





i say "....do you mean a D chord?!?!?...you are playing a D chord!!!!!!!!!!!"

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 4 2009, 08:05 PM

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 4 2009, 08:08 PM

LOL what a story hahahah Reminds me of some video of Metallica where James is pointing "this and that fret" to Kirk

Posted by: ZakkWylde Sep 4 2009, 08:10 PM

I wouldn't let such a trivial thing ruin a possibly awesome Jam Session!

I wouldn't let such a trivial thing ruin a possibly awesome Jam Session!

Posted by: superize Sep 4 2009, 08:10 PM

You mean this Bogdan

Posted by: mattacuk Sep 4 2009, 08:59 PM

lol, poor ol Kirk, its always funny

Posted by: Santiago Diaz Garces Sep 5 2009, 12:33 AM

The sad thing of it is that there some "Pro" musicians in the same situation

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 5 2009, 10:06 PM

Well, if the player came with you with an attitude "don't you know how to play a guitar?" he's just acting uncool.

Posted by: Chokehold Sep 5 2009, 10:12 PM

Haha this fret, then this fret, then this fret.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 5 2009, 11:37 PM

Captions are silly

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 5 2009, 11:38 PM

ahhaha awesome video! I always end up laughing

Posted by: purple hayes Sep 6 2009, 12:31 AM

Which one of Andrew's theory lessons will teach me how to play a 5?

Posted by: jafomatic Sep 6 2009, 12:47 AM

I think we need to start a collab in the key of 5 minor

Posted by: Emir Hot Sep 6 2009, 12:54 AM

The story about "5" is really funny That happens to people that start learning guitar from the end. I know the guy who knows the whole Paul Gilbert instructional video but doesn't know how simple open C major chord looks like. Knowing at least basics of theory is a must for every musician. I agree there 100%

About Kirk's video, this happens to everybody sometimes. I can just imagine how many hours they spend in that studio. Even simple things become hard to understand when you work 15 hours a day. James didn't show him that part properly btw He played different in slow tempo then he did more strokes in the faster tempo. That probably confused Kirk.

Posted by: sted Sep 6 2009, 11:16 AM

Ive spent fifteen years avoiding theory and just learning Oasis songs! Now Im learning it its like "ahhhhh! I see!" everyday is a eureka moment!

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Sep 6 2009, 06:10 PM

haha, people use different representation systems!

Posted by: audiopaal Sep 6 2009, 07:04 PM

I wouldn't let that ruin a jam session, but then again.. I don't know the theory behind all the chords I'm playing either So I'd probably know what he was talking about

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 6 2009, 07:28 PM

hahaha im sure you know that major and minor is right? because that guy didnt

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Sep 6 2009, 07:35 PM

Marc your story is hilarious man, I would have started crying from laughing

Posted by: audiopaal Sep 6 2009, 07:48 PM

Ok, you got me.. I actually know that

Posted by: Jenbu Sep 6 2009, 08:26 PM

hehe I just started on a new band and there the say all those different notes but I didn't understand a thing
but luckily I understand much now (atleast the notes)

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 6 2009, 09:57 PM

Well, some people just don't want to learn theory because they think this will prevent them from being creative. They don't want to sound like everybody... Bah...

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 6 2009, 10:32 PM

It always gets me the chills when I hear people say things like that, and the worst part they are confident 100% that they are right. After some time, they find out the terrible truth

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 6 2009, 11:05 PM

what? that the minor pentatonic scale isnt the only scale in guitar? SAY IT ISNT SO IVAN!!!!!!!

Posted by: audiopaal Sep 6 2009, 11:28 PM

Truth is though, there's actually some people that get to hung up in what they "know" is right that it prevents them from being as creative as they could be.. I've seen it many times with musicians from local music schools
That's why I always recommend to practice songs and songwriting and/or just play for fun as well as practicing theory and guitar knowledge so that you don't get stuck in your creativity.

I've even had some peple telling me that some of my songs are "wrong" because I'm not using the "right" progression of notes/chords etc., and even though it sounds good they still believe it's wrong.
Stuff like this really makes me laugh

But of course this is a select few, but it does indeed happen

I'm learning some theory bit by bit, but I've got no intention of learning everything as I really don't need it.
I'm not going to be a guitar virtuoso, but hopefully I'll be a great songwriter

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 7 2009, 12:54 AM

Thats kind of at the road I am at.

When I first starting playing I wanted to play like all the greats, you name it. ( And I still would love to be at that level)

But as time when I figured. There is always someone faster then someone else, also someone that does something else a little bit better. And often times that one pretty good shredder, is forgotten.

But a great song, that is something that will always be remembered.

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 7 2009, 04:47 PM

what do you mean didnt know the note? of course i knew the note....theory has nothing to do with hearing notes by ear, thats a completely different technique btw.


I knew what he was doing, but since that was one of the only progressions he knew, how was the jam supposed to be anywhere near beneficial?

i did tell him, but when someone claims to be "good" you would think they could do more than just play a single chord progression.


my point is with out theory in music, you really limit yourself. he at least had good strumming technique and chord fingering, but since he didnt know what he was playing, he couldnt add other chords, he couldnt go anywhere out side what he was playing...its limiting him and me. im not trying to sound arrogant, im just trying to tell a funny story.



basic theory is important for ANY and ALL guitarists, there is no argument there...if you are going to call yourself a musician, let alone a good musician, you cant take short cuts.


when i mean basic, i mean knowing what major and minor is, know at least 1 scale, and knowing what the notes are

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 7 2009, 09:47 PM

Last time I jammed, I jammed on D... and that's the only note I used.

Obviously, we didn't jam for long. But still, you can jam knowing one note if you can put some rhythm and variation on it, why not(e) ? Putting variations probably means to know a bit of theory though.

I've learned some theory and I'm currently enjoying playing with that much of it. Perhaps in a few weeks or months I will feel like I need some more theory to complete my music vocabulary. But the very basic is essential from my point of view.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 7 2009, 10:11 PM

I'm afraid it isn't

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 7 2009, 11:00 PM

Wait a sec..
You mean 5 is D? But 3, that's still a chord, right?

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 8 2009, 04:14 AM

what about 42?

Posted by: Emir Hot Sep 8 2009, 11:24 AM

I guess 3 would be C hahaha

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 8 2009, 11:44 AM

That would be funny. One who count his note from the first string to the last with 22 frets. That would be, A is 5 on 1st string and 22 and 51...

Not sure how he's going to do the day he buys a 24 frets guitar though.

Posted by: steve25 Sep 8 2009, 11:51 AM

No sorry, 42 is the meaning of life

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 8 2009, 03:35 PM

So true ! The meaning of life, the universe and everything. The answer we are all looking for.

Posted by: JCJXXL Sep 18 2009, 03:37 AM

I think you mean 5

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 18 2009, 05:15 PM

This thread is getting complicated and confusing!
My theory is all wrong!!!

Posted by: audiopaal Sep 18 2009, 08:25 PM

Finally someone is speaking my language