The learning to play for real thread

Argh ok, or shape 2 of the b. It's harder to think about without a guitar on my lap!

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It's hard for me to think about even with a guitar:)

Don't quite get the whole different scale shapes thing yet.
 
I still think in position one of each scale! Plus these extended couple of notes, LOL. Plenty to be getting on with.
 
Pentatonic e and b use 4 of the same 5 notes, I think it's only the g (in e) and the f# (in b) that are different.

key of e: e g a b d
key of b: b d e f# a

Pentatonic a is only one note different from e as well, the b goes to a c, I think thats a lot of blues songs are based around the E, A & B chords.

key of a: a c d e g
 
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I still think of scales in terms of shapes, I imagine to properly understand them you need to know what notes you're playing, what notes the scale consists of and where to find them?

Now you've thrown keys into the mix I'm totally lost :laugh:
 
I had to pick up my guitar and go through the notes to write them down :laugh:, my theory has never been that good that I know the notes of a scale by heart.

It's worth learning the 5 pentatonic shapes off by heart though, as once you have it down for e you can just shift the whole lot up and down the neck for any scale.

A good way of practising the 5 shapes is playing along to songs you like, say Hendrix's Purple Haze which is all in e, and just keep playing the shapes over and over.
 
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Might just leave that particular little project until RS2014 Session Mode, when I can have all the shapes in front of me and try and learn it from that :)
 
I’m still learning them, its just the same notes repeated in different places along the neck broken down into different hand positions for ease.
It’s a bit easier when you realise the tail end of one shape/box overlays the beginning of the next.
Have position 1 and 5 down well, just learnt 3 this week. Should come in handy when playing a 12bar with a bar of licks thrown in here and there, just playing where you hand happens to be rather than going back to position 1 all the time.
Also looked at using the c7 shape in place of a A rooted 7th bar chord, gives lots of options to mix up a basic blues :)
 
It's worth learning the 5 pentatonic shapes off by heart though, as once you have it down for e you can just shift the whole lot up and down the neck for any scale.

Very good advice. Having learned the pentatonic and modal shapes I can now improvise a solo in any key.
 
Okay 10s on the Variax had to go, maybe because of the longer neck length but I just couldn't get on with them.

I was also finding the sound a bit flat, I'm sure they said D'Addarios on the leaflets but they had a slick feeling like they were coated (elixers)...or could it be they weren't rusty like I'm used to :D

Back to 9s (super slinkys) and I'm so much happier. The guitar sounds has opened up and I know everyone says the tone improves with heavier strings, but I much prefer it. The alternative tuning sounded a bit off before and strangely this seems to have sorted it. Maybe it's in the fingers, but I'm wondering if the modelling was tuned for 9s or a shorter neck.

I've noticed with the Variax that in modelling I'm getting the best tones with lower-middish volume/distortion. Maybe need to play a bit in workbench to get some heavier tones I'm happier with. Not loving any of the lester models particularly much once I turn up the distortion so some tinkering is in the books. Spotted the zip file on the forum so maybe something in there already.
 
Can you give a link to zip file? Didn't see any Variax DLs when I looked on website, all for other Line 6 stuff.

My tutor had a play with my Variax yesterday, he really likes it, but said strings need changing already! I changed my PRS's yesterday after a month as they were feeling rough. He said that even playing hour a night, I should change both guitars every 2-3 weeks!

He's just ordered his fifth Stratocaster, a John Mayer US signature before they disappear. Mayer's passed me by, but as my tutor has a fair share of Mayer tattoos as well!, maybe he's worth investigating?
 
He said that even playing hour a night, I should change both guitars every 2-3 weeks!

Having a read of the latest Total Guitar that dropped through my door yesterday, you might want to change them more often than that, or start wearing surgical glves to play :rotfl:

They got some university professor to do some tests on a set of strings and they found 32,000 bacteria on them :D
 
Not got to that article yet... Wondering whether I should bother now.:eek:
 
He's just ordered his fifth Stratocaster, a John Mayer US signature before they disappear. Mayer's passed me by, but as my tutor has a fair share of Mayer tattoos as well!, maybe he's worth investigating?
John mayer tattoos? Is he the kind of guy that go's in for scatter cushions? :laugh:
I belive th big ones to youtube are gravity and slow dance in the burning room for a quick overview and his crossroads appearances. I think his blues stuff is done under seperate 'john mayer trio band'
 
My tutor also told me to wash hands before playing each time as the weather gets clammy!
 
Surprised Health and Safety haven't got involved here. Imagine as you go into a guitar shop, hospital ward hand-cleansing machines!!
 
As they mentioned in the article, probably best not to do a Hendrix and play with your teeth:D
 
He said that even playing hour a night, I should change both guitars every 2-3 weeks!
I sometimes don't change my strings for months, if they feel rough I just rub some fast-fret over them :rotfl:. It does feel nice though when you put a new set on, and everything sounds brighter too.

Very good advice. Having learned the pentatonic and modal shapes I can now improvise a solo in any key.

Are the modal shapes pretty much the pentatonic shapes with the other major notes added? Recently I've been learning 3 note-per-string patterns and seen them named as modes. I know it's mainly shredders that use these patterns but they help open up the fretboard and are good for practising hammer-ons/pull-offs and alternate picking.

I wouldn't mind learning some jazz style improv which I think the modal scales play a big part in, still haven't got the grasp of them yet, with the amount of information available on the internet I've got no excuse!
 

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As best I understand it, and that's certainly not saying much! The modes are just the major scale moved on a bit :)

So taking C Major being

C D E F G A B - or T T T S T T S (I think)

Whichever mode comes next, can't remember which order they are in, but everything just shifts along one. So you get

D E F G A B C - T T S T T S T

then E F G A B C D - T S T S T T T

Using C so I don't have to worry about sharps and flats :)

What practical use the modes are I'm not quite sure :)
 
Cheers, I kind of remember the tone-tone-tone-semitone... pattern, I think the chords of scale use a similar thing like major-major-minor... and a 7th at the end. I used to have an old scale/theory book when I first began playing, it used to go on about the circle of 5ths and modes but I just wanted to learn Metallica riffs :D.

Someday I will sit down and have a good read about theory, when I was younger I would hear how Hendrix never learnt theory but the truth is he was very knowledgeable about all that stuff. Same as Randy Rhoads, he used to seek out guitar teachers everywhere he went to learn more.
 
Every once in a while, I sit and try and make sense of the Justin Guitar Practical Music Theory e-book, I get so far and give up when my head starts spinning, in about 18 months and many restarts I think I've reached about page 15 :laugh:
 
I have about 100 bookmarks on guitar lessons that I still need to revisit :rotfl:, the latest is this video I found a couple of weeks a go.



I keep saying I'll look at them one day, maybe next time I have a week off :thumbsup:.
 
I think I mentioned about three weeks ago that I signed up for Guitar Tricks.com for a tenner a month or something, thinking if I was paying it might motivate me to do some of the lessons, I think I've done about 30 minutes that first weekend and not been near it since :rotfl:

A cancellation might be it in order I think :)
 
Can you give a link to zip file? Didn't see any Variax DLs when I looked on website, all for other Line 6 stuff.

It's pinned to the top of the support forum:
Variax Downloadable Models - Variax Guitars / Bass / Workbench - Line 6 Community

Loads of models, but not really looked yet will have a play.

I have to say John Mayer has passed me by too. I've heard the name in the guitar mags but no idea even what type of music he plays.

Seriously guys buy some fast fret, I change my strings every 6 months. Sure the strings have a few days where they are are silky smooth, but as long as they are cleaned I don't find the feel/tone gets that much worse after that. Using a bit of lemon oil on a clean cloth probably works as well, if you loop it round the string and rub it up and down. You know if it's working as the cloth gets a big black line :D
 

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