Hammerhead Blues, Pentatonic Scales |
GMC Forum > Discussion Boards > VINTAGE GMC > Community Activities and Tutorials > MTP - The Mentored Training Program > AJMurrell|
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Feb 25 2009, 01:04 AM
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AJ,
just kidding... Adam, I have been playing guitar for over 20 years. I've just blown the dust off of my guitars after a great 10 years of family with two children, and NO TIME. My children are 10 and 7 now and I find that with work and family and exercise , I can now squeeze in some time each week for practice. If I'm pushing it, but realistic 2 hours a week for now is doable. I have some breaks coming up ( I teach) so I can put in extra then. I don't really listen to much music now, so I'm not sure who inspires me at the moment. Two names come to mind for current picks though: Joe Satriani & Steve Vai. My goal is to play melodically like they do, with shredding skills and sound knowledge of theory. Now I know that they put in more hours each day than I can in a month... so I'm realistic about how much I will improve, but I don't mind the striving. I was a huge RUSH fan (still am), and I also have listened to my share of metal, and even some punk. ! Now that I'm older, I'm not so angry so metal and head banging is not my thing nowadays. I am trying to strengthen my voice and my ear. I know that both of these will help my music overall. I take the whole approach to my guitar: 1. I play guitar because I love music! 2. If a skill pertains to music (voice or ear training, eventually reading music...) Then I will try to improve myself there. 3. It's not ultimately about being able to play at a certain level, it's about enjoying the music along the way.  Anyway what I was thinking of starting with the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales. I just discovered the relative major of the minor scale. I am now playing (I-IV-V) each scale over the chords to try to hear each voicing. I'm only working with the first 3 positions (or boxes) at the moment. I don't even know/ remember any scales. When I listen to Buddy Guy tear it up on a song, I want to be able to "tear it up" too, so right now I'm trying to hear/ understand what makes these 5 notes sound the way they do? needless to say I plunk around on those same notes & I get Nadda...ZERO! I want to really hear music. I also want to understand the Theory pieces, for example the relative Major... is it the Third on the minor scale? Does that work in reverse, the relative Minor is the 5th???? Last but not least is the SPEED, yes I want to play long fluid blazing solos! So I need help with speed exercises. I hope this is enough to start with  I look forward to meeting all of our troop! P.S. My input jack to my lap top Just broke! My recordings buzz off and on at the moment... so I'm looking at investing in a USB audio interface. Since I plan at some point to work with MDI, this will be MIDI compatible. Of course I started looking and I realized a nice pre-amp couldn't hurt (all the voice work I want to accomplish could use a nice sounding mic) and so I'm looking at different equipment right now. A long story to say that I have no way to record @ the moment. I am considering the Kontrol 1 interface. It's full blow, which means I wont need to upgrade down the road. http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2009/...are-Bundle.html Tons of software as well...any thoughts are welcome, Aloha
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-------------------- When I look down at my hands... I see "FINGERS of DOOM"
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Feb 25 2009, 03:14 PM
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Hey there Hammerhead,
Thanks for posting all that, really helps in getting to know what you want to get out of this and what we should aim to work on. It sounds like you're fairly clear on what you'd like to accomplish, which is being able to "hear" the music and translate it on to the guitar, using the needed theory knowledge and techniques. This is a big goal, but not at all impossible to complete. I personally am still striving to do the same, and I think it mostly comes from experience and theory knowledge. The more songs/licks you learn and fool around with, the more experimental you will get with being creative. I'm not going to pretend that my theory knowledge is all that great, so I can't promise to be super helpfull on these topics BUT I can point you in the direction of Mr Andrew Cockburn and his fantastic and indepth Theory lessons here: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...?showtopic=3351 We can use these weekly along side practical lessons to boost both technical and theoretical knowledge. To start with then, I would like to suggest, as I have just done with Koopid, to look over is Ivan's Pentatonic Workshop here - https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...ming-exercises/ This is an all rounder really, it will solidify the necissary theory for using the pentatonic scales, has example licks to use, breaks out of using each CAGED pentatonic box and also gets you used to using different note durations. Now because of the your limited time to practise I didn't want to overload you with anything and/or start giving you time limits. I'm also aware you're unable to record anything now so there is no need to rush any of this. Of course feel free to throw any questions you have for me here and I will get back to you with help  Because my theory knowledge is quite limited, I will probably end up providing you with answers using the theory board, just so you don't think I'm being lazy in my responses Let me know how all of this sounds, and whether you think the above workshop seems like a productive lesson series to look over. Be honest if you think you know it already, I can find you something else. Nice to speak to you, and look forward to working together in completing your goals! QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Feb 25 2009, 12:04 AM)  AJ, just kidding... Adam, I have been playing guitar for over 20 years. I've just blown the dust off of my guitars after a great 10 years of family with two children, and NO TIME. My children are 10 and 7 now and I find that with work and family and exercise , I can now squeeze in some time each week for practice. If I'm pushing it, but realistic 2 hours a week for now is doable. I have some breaks coming up ( I teach) so I can put in extra then. I don't really listen to much music now, so I'm not sure who inspires me at the moment. Two names come to mind for current picks though: Joe Satriani & Steve Vai. My goal is to play melodically like they do, with shredding skills and sound knowledge of theory. Now I know that they put in more hours each day than I can in a month... so I'm realistic about how much I will improve, but I don't mind the striving. I was a huge RUSH fan (still am), and I also have listened to my share of metal, and even some punk. ! Now that I'm older, I'm not so angry so metal and head banging is not my thing nowadays. I am trying to strengthen my voice and my ear. I know that both of these will help my music overall. I take the whole approach to my guitar: 1. I play guitar because I love music! 2. If a skill pertains to music (voice or ear training, eventually reading music...) Then I will try to improve myself there. 3. It's not ultimately about being able to play at a certain level, it's about enjoying the music along the way. Anyway what I was thinking of starting with the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales. I just discovered the relative major of the minor scale. I am now playing (I-IV-V) each scale over the chords to try to hear each voicing. I'm only working with the first 3 positions (or boxes) at the moment. I don't even know/ remember any scales. When I listen to Buddy Guy tear it up on a song, I want to be able to "tear it up" too, so right now I'm trying to hear/ understand what makes these 5 notes sound the way they do? needless to say I plunk around on those same notes & I get Nadda...ZERO! I want to really hear music. I also want to understand the Theory pieces, for example the relative Major... is it the Third on the minor scale? Does that work in reverse, the relative Minor is the 5th???? Last but not least is the SPEED, yes I want to play long fluid blazing solos! So I need help with speed exercises. I hope this is enough to start with I look forward to meeting all of our troop! P.S. My input jack to my lap top Just broke! My recordings buzz off and on at the moment... so I'm looking at investing in a USB audio interface. Since I plan at some point to work with MDI, this will be MIDI compatible. Of course I started looking and I realized a nice pre-amp couldn't hurt (all the voice work I want to accomplish could use a nice sounding mic) and so I'm looking at different equipment right now. A long story to say that I have no way to record @ the moment. I am considering the Kontrol 1 interface. It's full blow, which means I wont need to upgrade down the road. http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2009/...are-Bundle.html Tons of software as well...any thoughts are welcome, Aloha -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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Feb 25 2009, 05:30 PM
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QUOTE (Ajmurrell @ Feb 25 2009, 04:14 AM) Hey there Hammerhead, Thanks for posting all that, really helps in getting to know what you want to get out of this and what we should aim to work on. It sounds like you're fairly clear on what you'd like to accomplish, which is being able to "hear" the music and translate it on to the guitar, using the needed theory knowledge and techniques. This is a big goal, but not at all impossible to complete. I personally am still striving to do the same, and I think it mostly comes from experience and theory knowledge. The more songs/licks you learn and fool around with, the more experimental you will get with being creative. I'm not going to pretend that my theory knowledge is all that great, so I can't promise to be super helpfull on these topics BUT I can point you in the direction of Mr Andrew Cockburn and his fantastic and indepth Theory lessons here: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...?showtopic=3351 We can use these weekly along side practical lessons to boost both technical and theoretical knowledge. To start with then, I would like to suggest, as I have just done with Koopid, to look over is Ivan's Pentatonic Workshop here - https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...ming-exercises/ This is an all rounder really, it will solidify the necissary theory for using the pentatonic scales, has example licks to use, breaks out of using each CAGED pentatonic box and also gets you used to using different note durations. Now because of the your limited time to practise I didn't want to overload you with anything and/or start giving you time limits. I'm also aware you're unable to record anything now so there is no need to rush any of this. Of course feel free to throw any questions you have for me here and I will get back to you with help Because my theory knowledge is quite limited, I will probably end up providing you with answers using the theory board, just so you don't think I'm being lazy in my responses Let me know how all of this sounds, and whether you think the above workshop seems like a productive lesson series to look over. Be honest if you think you know it already, I can find you something else. Nice to speak to you, and look forward to working together in completing your goals! Thanks Adam, I have pulled up the pentatonic lessons from Ivan and they look like a great starting point. I'm not at the beginning level of this his course... but I'll look along the lessons and plug in and start where I feel it's needed. Can I ask, is the CAGED approach simply the boxes/patterns? I've seen something about CAGED Unlocked and I'm not really sure why it's called CAGED? Thanks. I think this is a great place to start and as we move along I'll have more questions. Robert -------------------- When I look down at my hands... I see "FINGERS of DOOM"
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Feb 25 2009, 06:23 PM
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Robert,
Here is a good description of what CAGED means and why its so important. http://justacoustic.com/index.php/lessons/...he-caged-theory It does essentially help explain the 5 boxes/patterns for the minor/major pentatonics though yes, but it is interesting to notice that the chord shapes from the CAGED system are within these scales. Thanks Robert, I'm sure you'll make swift progress. It's just difficult at this initial stage to know exactly where you're at so do let me know if you have any problems. Cheers QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Feb 25 2009, 04:30 PM) Thanks Adam, I have pulled up the pentatonic lessons from Ivan and they look like a great starting point. I'm not at the beginning level of this his course... but I'll look along the lessons and plug in and start where I feel it's needed. Can I ask, is the CAGED approach simply the boxes/patterns? I've seen something about CAGED Unlocked and I'm not really sure why it's called CAGED? Thanks. I think this is a great place to start and as we move along I'll have more questions. Robert -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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Feb 25 2009, 06:47 PM
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QUOTE (Ajmurrell @ Feb 25 2009, 07:23 AM) Robert, Here is a good description of what CAGED means and why its so important. http://justacoustic.com/index.php/lessons/...he-caged-theory It does essentially help explain the 5 boxes/patterns for the minor/major pentatonics though yes, but it is interesting to notice that the chord shapes from the CAGED system are within these scales. Thanks Robert, I'm sure you'll make swift progress. It's just difficult at this initial stage to know exactly where you're at so do let me know if you have any problems. Cheers Thanks Adam, when I get the recording fixed it will make helping me easier...we can work together to help me create melodies and work on my speed...
-------------------- When I look down at my hands... I see "FINGERS of DOOM"
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Feb 27 2009, 04:41 PM
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Adam,
I took a look at the CAGED link and found that I was still unsure about it all. It;s huge to say the least but your recommendation to look at it was dead on! I did find this on the internet and it has me fully engaged! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLTlm9pO_E...feature=related There is a whole series... not all of them posted from the original but definitely worth a look. I might buy the series at some point, it's that in depth. Anyway it ties in with what I've started with. I'm now working with the boxes I've studied and finding the chords that "work" with those boxes. If that makes sense. I got up @ 3:30 this morning to get some time in before work! I'm starting to use the Practice Agenda now but I'm not sure of it's purpose? I can post my notes and you can look them over to help keep me on track... if that's helpful...or is the practice agenda more for myself? -------------------- When I look down at my hands... I see "FINGERS of DOOM"
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Feb 27 2009, 06:12 PM
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Really glad you're getting sucked into learning, getting up at 3.30 shows some serious dedication!!
I talked about the CAGED system with Muris and Ivan on the chat a couple of nights ago, and to be honest, we were all at a loss for what it really was! As I've previously said, my theory knowledge is lacking, but Ivan's and Muris' are top notch! We came to the conclusion that its just another way of learning major scale chord shapes, and the pentatonic box shapes. There are lots of ways too do it, and some are better than others but the most important thing to look for is an explanation type that makes sense to you! So if its making sense, and you're enjoying it, it may be worth the adventure Just before you fork out another subscription fee to another website though, check a couple of these Theory lesson posts by Andrew just to make sure that what you're looking for isn't already provided here at GMC. CAGED Theory lesson 1 CAGED Theory lesson 2 If you want some more material on the minor pentatonic check out this lesson HERE and major pentatonic HERE Andrews lessons are very in depth and very well structured for learning too. The Where To Start topic gives you a complete list of all the theory lessons available and where to start first. In regards to the practice agenda, feel free to use it if it helps you get a plan down for practicing! Just make sure to give me the link, but also ask any questions you have for me here too How do you feel about a lesson assignment to work on in between the theory lessons? QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Feb 27 2009, 03:41 PM) Adam,
I took a look at the CAGED link and found that I was still unsure about it all. It;s huge to say the least but your recommendation to look at it was dead on! I did find this on the internet and it has me fully engaged! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLTlm9pO_E...feature=related There is a whole series... not all of them posted from the original but definitely worth a look. I might buy the series at some point, it's that in depth. Anyway it ties in with what I've started with. I'm now working with the boxes I've studied and finding the chords that "work" with those boxes. If that makes sense. I got up @ 3:30 this morning to get some time in before work! I'm starting to use the Practice Agenda now but I'm not sure of it's purpose? I can post my notes and you can look them over to help keep me on track... if that's helpful...or is the practice agenda more for myself? This post has been edited by Ajmurrell: Feb 27 2009, 06:13 PM -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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Mar 5 2009, 01:00 AM
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QUOTE (Ajmurrell @ Mar 4 2009, 08:06 AM) Hey man, I gave your myspace a listen and I liked its ambient style Regarding picking each note, you can think of it as an extra tool in your box for when it comes to playing. What I mean by this is that combining both picking, hammer on's, pull off's, bends, slides, legato etc into your playing means you have different ways to express yourself on the guitar. In the exercise's it is important to get used to each skill individually to get you used to the technique, and to make sure you feel comfortable using it. However I wouldn't say that you should pick EVERY note. It certainly doesn't mean you're not good because you dont pick every note. I hope this makes sense? Don't think of it as a "this is how I must always play!" and more of a "I can use this from time to time!" Let me know how you find the lesson, and if you have any questions Thanks Adam, I mentioned that I pulled the Drummer boy, it is here: http://www.musicradar.com/profile: I don't know if I moved it before you got to hear it. I did the guitars, over karaoke music in the back ground. Thanks for the advice on picking, I may be too self critical at times, but I was starting to feel like maybe I needed to pick every note after watching Kris's lesson. I put in half an hour on it this morning. I will still work with this exercise though, and then I will move on to Muris' exercise. Muris can really play! QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Mar 4 2009, 01:54 PM) Thanks Adam, I mentioned that I pulled the Drummer boy, it is here: http://www.musicradar.com/profile: I don't know if I moved it before you got to hear it. I did the guitars, over karaoke music in the back ground. Thanks for the advice on picking, I may be too self critical at times, but I was starting to feel like maybe I needed to pick every note after watching Kris's lesson. I put in half an hour on it this morning. I will still work with this exercise though, and then I will move on to Muris' exercise. Muris can really play! Here is my Practice Agenda. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...blogid=211& Can you tell me how the blocks work for Practice Agendas? I've looked at a few other P-A's and I'm not sure how it works. At the moment I'm just using this space a bit like a journal, can we do more here? Thanks, Robert -------------------- When I look down at my hands... I see "FINGERS of DOOM"
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Mar 5 2009, 07:56 PM
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I did manage to hear your song Drummer boy at myspace before you deleted it actually
Although I can't remember it much now, and the link you gave me doesn't seem to work?Regarding your practice agenda, feel free to update that as to how you'd like to set out your weeks practicing I'd prefer it if you could ask questions to me in this forum just to keep it all in one place, but I can certainly help on setting it up. People usually use the practice agenda to keep a track of their progress over time. So you can make a note of what you did on a certain day, and what you'd like to work more on, do differently next time etc. Also other people can monitor your progress as well. The blocks I'm not too familiar with, essentially you'll want to go to the "entries" link and click "new entry". This process will look familiar to the forum posting as it is the same The blocks I suppose could be used as little post it notes, as you can move them around your page freely by clicking and holding on the boxes. How are you finding the lessons? QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Mar 5 2009, 12:00 AM) Thanks Adam, I mentioned that I pulled the Drummer boy, it is here: http://www.musicradar.com/profile: I don't know if I moved it before you got to hear it. I did the guitars, over karaoke music in the back ground. Thanks for the advice on picking, I may be too self critical at times, but I was starting to feel like maybe I needed to pick every note after watching Kris's lesson. I put in half an hour on it this morning. I will still work with this exercise though, and then I will move on to Muris' exercise. Muris can really play! Here is my Practice Agenda. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...blogid=211& Can you tell me how the blocks work for Practice Agendas? I've looked at a few other P-A's and I'm not sure how it works. At the moment I'm just using this space a bit like a journal, can we do more here? Thanks, Robert -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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Mar 12 2009, 04:14 PM
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Hey man,
How are things going? I started a topic I would like you to have a look at here: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=25533 Let me know if you have any suggestions or anything. How are you finding the speed exercises? -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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Mar 18 2009, 01:56 AM
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Thought I'd post what I just did in Koopids thread for you, just so you see the message too
"Thats EXACTLY how I'd recommend going about practising these techniques, especially when they feel very unnatural. 20 minutes is in my opinion, at the top end of how much time to soley practice one particular exercise. It is very much down to what works for you though at the end of the day. But I always end up finding the same thing happens to me Hammerhead, I play for 20 minutes... Take an hour, half a day, full day break and then come back to it and it DOES feel easier and more comfortable for sure. Id probably recommend doing the entire exercise over the 6 strings though, just because you want to get used to the whole exercise sounding fluid. But can appreciate if you find one part harder than the rest, then thats the area to work on most." In regards to getting some experience with some more interesting scales, I'm doing just that right now myself! I'm working on an entry for Emir's Yngwie Malmsteen Collaboration here at GMC and it require two very different sounding scales to the pentatonic. The Phyrgian Dominant scale, and Harmonic minor. Now I personally found it quite hard to get a real "feel" for the sound and "flavour" of different scales by just learning the scale positions so I will give you the advice I'm finding to work for me. When you get interested in learning a scale, we'll take B dorian as your example, find the scale using which ever site/book you use (Or work it out yourself using your theory knowledge ) and learn the intervals and notes for one string at first. Then once you've learnt at least an octave of your chosen scale on one string (I always use the top E for this), select a clean sound and either let the route note of your scale ring (in this case its B, and fortunately enough an open string) and start to play your scale on the top E string. Start on the route note, and ascend and descend. Then start improvising over your open string route note and hopefully you'll start to "hear" what the scale sounds like along with its route. I hope that makes sense, if not, I'll try to explain it better- just let me know! For your information I use this site to get my scales. It has them all http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_sc...=0&choice=1 QUOTE (Hammerhead @ Mar 16 2009, 11:54 PM) Adam, I think I'm gonna explore the Blues Evening lesson which is in the Key of B Dorian. I'm not going to study note for note but I just want to explore another scale outside of the pentatonic realm. If you have any suggestions for lessons that you know of that can help me with this scale... feel free to send them my way. I'm just gonna do some digging and see what I find.  Robert -------------------- GMC Travel Agent, at your service.
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