Oh, he's probably got a pedagogy site too. That's a porn thing that deals with feet, right? :lol:
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I have thought for some time that the only reason I'm not a millionaire is that I'm too moral to seperate fools from their money.
Me, too. Although, the closer I get to retirement age, the more I think about quack miracle diet plans...
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
LOL! :lol:
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
In the long run, brute force is a far better method for mastering the guitar. Spend 15 minutes a day working on it (I made flash cards with note names when I was learning), and in a few week's you'll know it.
I made a couple spreadsheets to help me with learning the fretboard and I thought I would share them with all of you. Check out this thread that I started:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37340&p=342889#p342889
Please, let me know what you think.
I know of a few programs that have actually helped me tremendously, including the Guitar Speed Trainer and the Guitar Scales Method. Though I have yet to try it, the Fretboard Trainer found at http://www.AbsoluteFretboard.com is made by the same group of people, and if it's anything like their other programs it should be immensely useful in learning the fretboard. I believe each program costs $50, but I've found them to be worth every penny so far. And no, learning the fretboard won't magically make you a better player, but I believe it will allow you to learn other theory-based aspects of the guitar at a drastically increased speed.
I'll also admit, after just looking over the site for the first time in a while, that it does resemble many of those other rip-off sites, and it does really try to sell the idea that learning the fretboard will help you tremendously. I'm not trying to say it will or it won't, I'm just saying that I've used their other products and they work great, and if you are already interested in learning the fretboard then this program should be of great assistance to you.
A couple of times I've bought 'master the ... in 5 minutes or whatever' only to feel ripped off.
These days I appreciate all the good folk out there in guitar-land who give up their time to help others without the 'rip-off' factor.
Have you seen the free 'Fretboard Game'?
an exercise i used to great effect in learning the fretboard is one that i think all guitarists are shown.
Start with C and play every c on the fretboard (8th fret e string, 3rd fret a string etc) and play them up and down the strings.
When you get back to the start, play every F in the same manner. Then every Bflat. E flat. Aflat.
Make sure you have a cycle of fourths/circle of fifths handy and work your way around it. Breaking it into fourths removes the reference point of the E,F,Fsharp method as you need to know the notes, not just moving up one fret at a time. I use this with my students and as a general rule have them practise untill they can play through the whole excercise "accurately" with no more than a one second pause. Also mixing it up and going from using fourths (left around the cycle) and fifths(right around the cycle)
takes away the idea that its just a pattern to memorise.
i teach this before scales so they understand the notes and structure of a scale instead of just the shape on the fretboard, and funnily enough they're playing over changes in no time.
Don't sweat it dude, just play!
I have been playing guitar on and off for 10 years. It wasn't until I read Desi Serna's bok on Fretbaord Theory that I finally undersood the fretboard ( Guitar-Music-Theory.com. ) You start off learning the 6th and 5th string notes, and from there learn how to make any chord you want. In short time you know the whole board. The lessons integrate the pentatonic scales, cage system, building chords, etc. He also has a lot of songs mixed into his theory so that you see how it all fits together. He also has a free podcast that follows his theory book. Of course he has a lot of free stuff on his web site and has DVDs too. I wish I had this book 10 years ago. you do not have to read music to learn theory from his book. For those still stuggling to learn the retboard and theory behind the guitar, get Serna's book.
you do not have to read music to learn theory from his book.
Perhaps, but i think it is important to learn to read music to really understand music theory. It's something akin to trying to understand Shakespeare without learning to read English IMO. Notation is the language universally understood by all musicians in the western world. You could go back in time to the 16th or 17th century and communicate exactly what you wanted to a bunch of Viennese bassoonists so long as you could read and write with it.
Don't sweat it dude, just play!
You could go back in time to the 16th or 17th century and communicate exactly what you wanted to a bunch of Viennese bassoonists so long as you could read and write with it.
I think you're dead right about the value of notation Spides. You can get access to all sorts of pre-existing music, plus you can communicate your own songs and compositions to a heap of others too. TAB has its uses I guess, but showing one to a singer won't get us far. For those of us who see notation and music theory as a friend holding a light rather than some kind of grisly exam or obstacle course, the more you learn about it the niftier it all seems. I share your enthusiasm for digging into it all. :D
Chris
