Hi Lester,

please write here something about yourself and your goals as guitar player

Cheers,
Jerry

Hi Jerry,

First I'd like to say it's an honour to be thaught by you, I'm looking forward to it.

About me:

My name is Lester,I am 20 years old and I live in Zwolle, The Netherlands.
I started to play guitar when I was 15 years old.I did private lessons for two years I think and then joined GMC after some time.

here's a pic (with my sister) to give you an idea who you are talking to:

Click to view attachment

Music:

Anything really!

I am really into hard rock, bands like Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch and Pillar.
If you have never hear d of those bands, it's not strange: they are all christian bands and thus not very well known everywhere.

But I like the heavier blues a lot as well, and fingerstyle, flamenco, jazz, funk and I'm sure I forgot some right now.

A few guitarists I like a lot: Mark Knopfler, Steve Lukather,Stevie Ray Vaughan, Andy Mckee & Don Ross, Chet Atkins, Gareth Pearson and Lee Ritenour. I'm sure I forgor some

My gear:

I currently own an Ibanez s270, a Roland cube 30 and some Suzuki acoustic guitar.

My goals:

My goals are always getting better and play in a succesfull band sometime. (or is that more like a dream? )

I think it's wise to learn to record properly first, I understood that I am supposed to do a REC take every month, but I only have a really crappy webcam right now.

I think that the thing I lack most is theory knowledge, so I'd like to catch up with that.

I also would like to be more allround in the basics, I really don't know where I am right now and I'd like to get a picture of that.

Another thing I am working on are open chords. I am trying to find new ways lately of playing a standard chord (like an Bb for example it can be substituted for an Bbadd9, or an Bb6/9)

And mostly: I'd like to learn how to play Jazz. But not only just a vid so I can imitate something. But I'd like to understand how it's made so I can compose some of it myself.

My favourite Jazz is Chet Atkins style and gypsy jazz.

So, I thinks that's all. Hope I covered all the info.

Cheers,
Lester

Thank you for all these infos, Lester.
Before we start to do some work, could you post here (or link) some video of you, playing the guitar?
You can also use some DAW like Reaper to record your audio with a better quality and then mix the track with your video.

Thanks

Hi Jerry,

I think I have to buy some new gear before I can record properly.
I'll go to the store tommorow. I thought of buying a quickcam pro 9000 and a pod studio GX, that should be enough, but I'm not sure.
You need some kind of USB-interface to record sound properly right? (also with reaper)
I'm a total newbue to recording actually, I thought a webcam would do.

Do you know any other options to record? any recommandations?

Click to view attachment

Hi Jerry,

Here's a vid of me playing my acoustic. I tried to play my Ibanez as well, but my phonecam couldn't handle the sound.
There are a few flaws in the vid, got a bit nervous all of a sudden

Quickcam pro 9000 and Pod studio GX will work fine, I guess. I never been a Pod user but I read on the web that it's an USB interface. Usually you find also some audio software (basic editions) with those products, so you can start to record yourself quicklly.
If you like the software you get with the Pod, you don't need Reaper, of course.



Ok, even I can't hear the sound here, if you agree, I suggest to you to start with my Jazz Notes 1: Building Chords lesson.

This lesson should help to understand some new concepts about the relationship between chords and scales.
So, we are moving away from open chords...

If you find this lesson too much difficult we'll move to some simple stuff.

Let me know when you have the (working) gear so we can set a deadline.

Hi Jerry.

I looked at the jazz lesson but i have a question: what principles/theory/scales should I know before I attempt to play this lesson?
I've seen that there are three theory lessons I should look at, but I don't know the major scale yet. So would it be wise to look at that first?

I do know how to play the minor natural scale, minor pentatonic and the blues scale.

P.S. I've bought a tascam us-144 Usb-interface plus a webcam this afternooon so I should be able to record properly soon.

Hi Lester,
you can find some useful info about the major scale here.
If you know already the minor natural scale, this is good.
There is a relationship between the major scale and the natural minor scale. The natural minor scale starts from the 6th degree of the major scale, thus they share the same notes.
C major scale: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
A natural minor scale: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A
Let me know how things are going with your gear

Hi Jerry,

I am looking at the theory right now, It shouldn't be too hard to get it down, I'll just implement it in my daily practice schedule.
In the meanwhile I'll start with the jazznotes lesson, what would be the deadline?

About the gear: The webcam wasn't working when I got home so I brought it back to the store, they ordered a new one for me. I should be able to pick it up early next week.

And I'm trying to find out how the tascam and cubase work with the guitar. should be working soon as well.

I'll let you know if I have any questions.

Let's try to set a deadline on december 11. Obviously we'll all be happy when you'll have your gear working
Meanwhile you can practice hard

Hi Jerry,

I was studying the theory about triads and seventh chords today, please allow me to summarize to see if I understood things right.
Ok, here goes:

Major triad: root, major 3rd and perfect fifth. Major scale goes as follows: T T S T T T S

Minor triad: root, minor 3rd, perfect fifth. Minor scale goes: T S T T S T T

Diminished triad: root, minor 3rd, diminished fifth.

Augmented triad: root, major 3rd, augmented fifth.


Ok, with sevenths:

Major 7th triad: root, major 3rd, perfect fifth, major 7th. chords are denoted like: Cmaj7, or DM7

Minor 7th triad: root, minor 3rd, prefect fifth, minor 7th. chords are denoted like: Dm7 or C minor 7

Dominant 7th triad: root, major 3rd, perfect fifth, minor 7th. chords are denoted like: C7 or A7

Minor major 7th triad: root, minor 3rd, perfect fifth, major 7th. chords are denoted like: Cm/ maj7 or D minor major 7

I allready know the barred shapes of these 7th triadse (except minor major shape)

I thinks that's about it. Am I on the right way?

Lester

Yes, you're on the right way.
Unfortunately, there's no standard way to write chords. Cmaj7, CΔ and C7M (CM7 is not the best choice, since the confusion with Cm7) are the same thing.
Let me know if you can record something as soon as possilbe.

I am able to record audio right now, I should be able to make the deadline on friday. I am expecting my webcam tommorow.
I have another question though:

We have the major scale as follows: T T S T T T S, from wich you can construct a Major 7th triad. (root, major 3rd, perfect fifth, major 7th)

And we can construct a minor 7th triad from the minor natural scale: T S T T S T T. (root, minor 3rd, perfect fifth and minor 7th)

But if we take the dominant 7th for example (root, major 3rd, perfect fifth, minor 7th) we get a scale formula as follows:

T T S T T S T

Can we call this a major dominant scale or something like that? or do we call it a major scale anyways?

Hi jerry,

I studied all of the theory now and started to play the progressions
First of all, I want to say: great lesson! I love the way you use 4 string sets in order to be able to play many different chords in a small area of the fretboard. Also: there's al lot of info there in one lesson, which I like

I still have a few questions though, if you don't mind

In the lesson we use this chord progression:

Imaj7, IIm7, IIIm7, IVmaj7, V7, VImin, VIIm7/5

I was wondering: is there any particular reason it's like this? I know the tonic is always major and the supertonic minor, etc.
But the subtonic is a -m7/5 chord for example, where it could be a -m7 chord as well. so, why do we use this one?
Is it a standard jazz-progression? I'm sorry if I'm asking something obvious

and about the excercices at the end of the vid:

1. Take the basic major progression you have seen, and play it in a couple of different keys, using the different string sets for each one

2. Sit down without your guitar, and write out tabs or music for the major progression for a particular key or keys

Did you mean for me to do these assignments for coming friday? or just play the chords progressions displayed in the main vid? if not, I'd like to do these 2 assignments as well thing is, I don't really understand assignment 2. do you mean write the chord progression or write out the full chords? or plain notes?

And the last question: can I have the backingtrack for this lesson so I can import it in cubase and play over it?

I'm sorry for the big amount of text and questions, hope you don't mind.

Thanks



This is the mixolydian scale. Modes are explained later in the Jazz Notes series




Feel free to ask everything comes to your mind about my lessons.
This progression is not a particular one. These chords are the ones you get stacking thirds over each degree, using four voices.

The subtonic and the leading-tone are two different notes.
Let's see from the root C. Subtonic is Bb (minor 7th) while the leading-note is B (major 7th).
In the C major scale you have B, not Bb. So the chord generated over the 7th degree is a Bm7/5- (B-D-F-A). This is also called B half-diminished.

I hope the picture should make things clear

Click to view attachment





For the assignment you can just record the lesson. If you have some time, you can do also the exercises. For the point 2. you can write the chords in the same way I did in the picture above.
Obviously if you write notes over a staff, it's a very easy job if you start with the right key signature for a particular key
So, you can just write chords names

Gonna searching the backing track right now

Here's the backing track!

Click to view attachment

Thanks for the quick reply.
Good to know about the subtonic and the leading tone, I didn't know there was a difference.

so in this case the root is a C7M because we have a major 7th in the scale? C D E F G A B C

but why is the 5th degree a G7 and not a G7M, it has a major 7th right? G A B C D E F# C



I don't get this part either, I don't see how the construction goes.

We have G7 because we have a F note in the C major scale. We are building chords over THIS scale.
You find G7M over the first degree of the G major scale, as example. G major scale has the F# note, C major not!!
Hope things are clear now.

Ok, I understand it now. Thanks a lot for the explanations

That's fine

Hi Jerry,

I was wondering: the Bm7/5- is basicly a Bdim with an added 7th (major 3rd on top or leading tone) which makes it half diminished, right?
What will happen when we add a minor 7th or a subtonic to a diminished chord? another notation?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Talking about C as root, do you mean to put a Bb (minor 7th) over a Cdim7 (written also C°,C°7,Cdim) to have C-Eb-Gb-Bbb + Bb ??
This chord is a bit dissonant. Anyway you can call it Cm7add13/5- if you think Bbb enharmonically as A.
Before we take a look at some advanced concepts it would be cool to see a video of you
Also, when I will be able to listen to your playing we'll discuss about your REC take.

This is what I meant with my question:

In the progression we have a Bm7/5-.
it consists of the root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a minor 7th.
the relative intervals are: root, minor 3rd, minor 3rd, major 3rd.
what happens when the last interval is a minor 3rd? (I formulated it wrong, I asked about a minor 7th, but making that interval minor makes it a 6th rather, i guess...)
And now that I think of it: why do we call the chord above a Bm7/5- and not just a Bdim7? Is Bdim7 a good notation as well?

About the recording:
I got my logitech quickcam today, I won't be able to record tommorow yet (lack of time) but friday you will hear me playing. I will record the lesson as well as a demo of my general playing. I'm at school all afternoon on friday, but I'll get to it when I get home, you use cubase as well, right? do you know how to sync my sound with the cam?

Stacking minor thirds you get a diminished 7th chord. As I wrote in my previous post there are many notations to write this.
C - Eb - Gb - Bbb are the notes of Cdim7, written also C°, C°7, Cdim. There is some confusion around, about the "dim" notation. Some books use "dim" for triads while some others are referring to the diminished 7th chord.
Usually you have some legend somewhere in the book which make things clear.
You find the diminished 7h chord as example over the 7th degree of the harmonic minor scale.
To keep things simple take a look at A harmonic minor which is A - B - C - D - E - F - G# - A.
Over the 7th degree you get G# - B - D - F which is G#°7.
Each note can be another root if you spell the names in the right way. Starting from B you get B - D - F - Ab, which is B°7.

I record the audio with Cubase and then I sync it with the video using Vegas or Movie Maker. If you take a look on the forum I'm sure you'll find many different solutions to do this. Members write their gear on each REC take. Looking forward to hear from you.

Allright, thank you for the explanation. I think I get it now.
I discovered a Dutch jazz band yesterday, I like them a lot: room eleven.
ever heard of them?

Never heard about them, sorry. I will search some info about their music.

Hi Jerry,

I tried to record something for the last hours, but when I played it the image was gone and the sound was bad and I can't upload it right now for some reason.
I have to leave home now, I won't be able to do another take this evening, so it will be tommorow, I'm sorry about that, I still need to figure all this gear out.

Sorry again!
Lester

Ok, I'm waiting for your take.

Hi Jerry,

Here's my first take on the jazz notes lesson, I still haven't got the camera working.
For some inexplainable reason the image is left out of the final mix.
I hope to have it fixed soon.

I do have recorded an audio take, to not further delay things.
I still have some difficulties with a few chords, especially the minor chords on the highest four string and the chords around the 15th fret are a little harder than the rest.
Here is my take:

Click to view attachment

Cheers!

Very nice take Lester
Remember that those chords over the higher frets are useful to understand how the progression goes through the neck.
Usually you don't need to use them while comping other instruments but you can use them to play some arpeggio during your solos, of course.
About your next assignment I suggest my Jazz Notes 3: Modes Workout lesson.
So you can learn modes of the major scale and meanwhile you'll play all the scales with alternate picking technique. I haven't heard you playing single notes, yet. In this way I can check better your current level of playing.
If you agree about the lesson, the deadline for the 2nd assignment is december 18 - we need to recover some time!
Talking about the REC, you can take a look at my Jazz Notes 5: II-V-I Progression: Licks lesson. The II-V-I progression is a very important topic in Jazz music.
Let me know what you think about it and maybe you can also suggest some other lesson if you think you can master it in time.

Hi Jerry!

The lessons are fine with me, I don't know a thing about modes yet, so that will be a lot of theorie again!
I hope I can make the deadline, I had a bicycle accident last monday and it's hard for me to play with a pick right now, because my hands are wounded But I think I'll be fine, I' just start with the theory.

When Is the REC supposed to be done? at the end of the month I thought, right?
I was thinking, maybe we could summarize things at the end of each month, so after each REC take, we take the topics we did in the weeks before and make an extra assignment for each topic. for example the ones mentioned at the end of vid 1 in your jazz notes 1 lesson.

I think that would help me freshen things up, otherwise we'll just move on and on, nothing wrong with that, but I feel this way the handled topics will stick better. and it will help me in my componing skills.

Let me know what you think.

Hi Lester, wish you a quick recovery!
Yes, the REC should be done at the end of the month.
About the extra assignments, you can find some exercises at the end of video #1 of many JN lessons.
If there aren't exercises in a particular lesson we are covering, I can suggest some specific exercise, of course. Since we're a bit late right now, it's very important to focus on playing and recording, in my opinion.
At the end of the month I will write a post which summarize your progress. This is already a feature of the MTP program, don't worry.

Allright! we'll do it that way then!
If I find some time time I will do the extra assignments, in that case I'll just post them here.
so....I'll get studying now

Hi Jerry!

Can I have the backingtrack for jazz notes 3?
I would like to record take now.

Cheers!
Lester

Here's the backing track. Happy recording

Click to view attachment

Hi Jerry!

Here's my take on jazz notes lesson 3, including image this time hope you like it!

Sounds like a good take
How about JN 4 as your next assignment? In this way you'll start to play some chords with a swingy feel.
If you agree I will upload the backing for this lesson plus the backing for the REC.

I agree. I'll get working on those then. Ican you also suggest lessons about modes? I'd like to learn more about them. I'd like to know them inside out,all the boxes, so I can improvise with them. I'll get working on those then as some side project, and post those whenever ready.

The point is that... you already know all the boxes. I chosed to explain modes in this way with my lesson, so you can connect all the boxes you have learned - after thinking a little . Please be patient because it's not the time to start to improvise. I know you want to experiment the concepts you already know but we need to finish the assignments and the REC in time.
Meanwhile you can learn some other lesson about modes, nothing wrong with it, of course. I know my lessons best and I can't suggest some specific lesson from other instructors.
If the next month everything will be fine, you can expect many assignments about improvisation

The deadline for the 3rd assignment is december 24.

Here are the backings

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

allright, I'll be patient, you're the boss!

We (humans) are all the same while we're learning something new. We want to learn many things as soon as possilble, playing 143546 notes per second, etc...
Take your time, trust me

is that it? I could play 143546 notes per second years ago

I do know this. This is why we are studying some theory right now

Ok, you're still the boss then.

Hi Jerry,

It's deadline day!

I haven't had much time to practice, because of some concerts and work and christmas, busy times....
Anyways,
I think I managed to learn the lesson quite well, and I was recording my vid, but I don't have any more time to complete it right now.
I have to prepare for a concert tonight.


I'll get back to you tommorow with a take if that's allright.

Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is just fine, if you have managed the lesson.
Happy Xmas and have a good concert with your friends

Thanks Jerry,

Have a good christmas as well!

Hi Jerry!

Here's my take on jazz notes 4:



I found the F6 the hardest one to grab fast and fluently, actually it's still not that fluent. It will get there in time though.
I didn't understood too much about the explanation of the vhords in vid 1 btw. but since the lesson was mostly about getting that swing rythm, I guess it's not that important yet, right?

Oh, and about the modes: you said that I allready knew all the boxes, that has to do with relative modes, right?
Like C ionian consists of C ionian D dorian, E Phyrigian, F Lydian, G mixolydian, etc.

anyways: Buon natale!

Thank you for this paper, Lester
Googlin' I've found "Zalig Kerstfeast" but I'm not completely sure about it
Back to the topic, very nice take. Don't worry too much if you didn't fully understand the theory about this lesson. As you wrote we're working mainly on rhythm, here. The explanation is there for someone who already know some theory concept by itself.

Yes, you're right about modes. C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrighian, etc... share the same SET of notes but you can THINK about them as different scales, connecting the boxes you already know, to play in a specific area of the neck. We'll see some exercise in the next month, hopefully.
I thought a little about your last assignment and since we're a bit late, maybe you should consider Jazz Notes 2: Triads and Inversions.
This is an easy lesson. At the same time, triads and inversions are a great tool to improvise if you know the current chord progression well.
Plus, in this way we are covering all the lesson from JN1 to JN5 if you can manage the REC take in time.
The link for the JN 2 backing is here
Let's see if this series will teach something useful to you, for the next weeks! Read this: it's (almost) time to start to improvise...

Zalig kerstfeast? sounds nice, but we use vrolijk kerstfeest or some other possible phrases, this sounds more like Belgian though.

I will do Jazz notes 2! I read a bit about inversions before, but didn't really went in deeply to fully understand, seems like now I can.
Is this assignment also to be done before the 31st of December?

I'll get working on it!

Yeah, we need to finish 4 assignments and the REC before the end of the current month. Now, you have fixed your problems while recording and synch videos. This is good because in the next month we should work more relaxed, maybe with 5/6 days for each assignment while you can work more specifically on the REC through the end of the month. Also, we can discuss about the REC at the beginning of the month!