Just finished Fundamentals 1.. yeah me!


mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
01/14/2011 12:57 am
Im picking up pretty quickly because I used to play(badly) in my 20s. Its sort of like riding a bike, but the wheels are strings and the handlebar is the neck and the horn is the pick and the seat is the uh,,


Well... B is difficult and F, but its all about practice. The callouses are starting so that is helping. Some buzzing. I find staying relaxed is the best way to learn. Cant wait to part 2.
Mike
# 1
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
01/14/2011 4:36 am
Congrats!!!!
You have to give yourself a big pat on your shoulder for a job well done, ha, ha, ha!!!
Well, brace up because you are in for a big surprise!!! GT F#2 is difficult, most especially, the "Intervals" tutorial!!! Whoaa, I did not get it and will return to that section. Instructor C.Schlegel is very good but the problem is myself! Just can't get them into my brain!!!!
Good luck!!!
# 2
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
01/14/2011 5:26 am
Hey, good job! Keep going!
# 3
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
01/14/2011 8:09 am
Originally Posted by: LycaeanCongrats!!!!
Well, brace up because you are in for a big surprise!!! GT F#2 is difficult, most especially, the "Intervals" tutorial!!!


I've been going through the acoustic fingerpicking tutorials, but I jumped in and watched the interval one for ya. What he's saying is correct, but I can see how it might be a bit confusing. I don't know if this was a part of it, but when he jumps up to other strings, he just meant that what he was saying was the same for all strings, not just the E string. He didn't mean that moving from one note on one string, and then moving up a STRING at the same fret is a half or whole step, just in case that part was a little confusing (maybe it wasn't, I don't know).

Probably the most important things to understand from that lesson would be:

-in western music we have 12 notes to choose from.

-these 12 notes are spread all across the guitar fretboard, and six strings.

-For example, play any open string, and then move up the fretboard on that string one fret at a time. Each note, at each fret is different, right up to the 11th fret. The 12th fret (the one with the double dots) is where the notes start to repeat all over again. So if you play your sixth string, the low E, open, and then fret the twelfth fret of that string, it is also "E", one full octave above the open string.

-when we move up or down one fret, we are moving up or down a "half step".

-when we move up or down two frets, we are moving up or down a "whole step".

That's really the gist of what he's saying, though I don't know if I've made it clearer, or more confusing.. a couple of concepts that people sometimes struggle with:

"What's the big deal with half steps/whole steps...?" These distinctions are used to describe scales, for instance the major scale sequence is:

Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step ,Whole Step, Half Step or simpler to read:
W W H W W W H.
Go ahead and try that on your guitar, just start on any string, any fret (but start low enough so you can move up the fretboard) and play that series of whole steps and half steps, and you will have played the major scale! The key of the scale will depend on whatever note you chose to start on.

"Ok, but when I play a B and then go up a half step, that note is a C, so what's up with that?? Isn't that a whole step?"

No. There are 12 notes, but only seven letters used to describe them. A B C D E F G then we go back to A. For most notes, to go from one letter to another requires a whole step, or two frets on a guitar. But B to C and E to F only require a half step, or 1 fret.

Hope this helps. The videos on this site are awesome, but this kind of theory is really best explained with a diagram, and practiced by writing it out first. I'd strongly recommend the text "The Guitar Fretboard Workbook"... it will make all of this complicated sounding stuff really clear.
# 4
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
01/14/2011 4:56 pm
Thanks! The next section sounds challenging.... Imma get my brain out from the formaldehyde jar. :)
# 5
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
01/15/2011 3:35 am
Thank you, SL, for clarifying the difficult section re: Intervals for me!
You're very good at understanding it and wish I had your explanation when I was going through it. You absolutely cleared the "cobweb' for me and, surely, when I return to that section, I shall understand it from that perspective! Well, Mc..., you will definitely benefit from SL's explanation and will avoid the problem I had!!!! That will make it a smooth sailing for you, ha, ha, ha!!!
Again, SL, a million thanks!!!!
# 6
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
01/15/2011 4:03 am
I have a question... he was explaining going up a fifth which is 7 frets. So if you start on the low E string 5th fret and go up a fifth you end up at the 12th fret. That would be A to E. Then he said you can go up a fifth across several strings. But you cant count 7 frets across strings correct? You have to then know that its A to E and how the notes exchange for each other when you go up to the higher strings. Right?
Thanks.
M
# 7
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
01/15/2011 5:02 pm
Ok, I was doing a little thinking. A fifth from the 5th fret on the low E. Or A to E across strings. I would look at it like this. A to B is a WS, B to C is a HS, C to D is a WS and D to E is a WS which equals 7 frets. 7 frets is a fifth. YEs?
# 8
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
01/15/2011 5:42 pm
Originally Posted by: mcullinanOk, I was doing a little thinking.[/quote]
Thinking is good. :)
[QUOTE=mcullinan] A fifth from the 5th fret on the low E. Or A to E across strings. I would look at it like this. A to B is a WS, B to C is a HS, C to D is a WS and D to E is a WS which equals 7 frets. 7 frets is a fifth. YEs?

Yes. And when you put two notes on the same string, this makes the interval (the distance between them) easy to see.

So, the issue that beginners sometimes struggle with is finding the interval between two notes that are not on the same string. It isn't immediately obvious to visual perception without first understanding how the strings are related to each other in intervals.

Look at the fretboard images at the bottom of the 3rd page in the Intervals tutorial:

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=10663

Five frets down and one string up yields the same note in a different place on the guitar. The exception is of course crossing the G & B strings. But the example used in this case, and in the Intervals tutorial, only concerns learning the idea that you can find the same note in more than one place on the guitar. And you must get used to this idea in order to learn to locate any given interval on the guitar.

If you have more questions, please know that you can ask me directly in my instructor forum:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36

Have fun! :)
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 9
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
Lycaean
Registered User
Joined: 11/20/10
Posts: 23
01/15/2011 7:53 pm
How lucky can you get, Mc....!!!
You got the attention of none other than our Instructor Chris Schlegel, who is the best qualified person, to explain to you and in the most simple language one of the confusing and mind-boggling sections in GT F#2 --- Intervals!!!
Now, you're ready to tackle that section head on! And if you can't still get a 100% clear understanding after his excellent explanation, I don't know why, ha, ha, ha!!!
As always, good luck!!!
# 10
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
Slipin Lizard
Registered User
Joined: 11/15/07
Posts: 711
01/16/2011 5:37 am
Originally Posted by: CSchlegel ...in the Intervals tutorial, only concerns learning the idea that you can find the same note in more than one place on the guitar. And you must get used to this idea in order to learn to locate any given interval on the guitar.
Have fun! :)


Too true. I really like the convention used by MIT, and that is laid out in Barrett Tagliarino's "The Guitar Fretboard Workbook", which shows that there are 5 root shapes that repeat across the fretboard. For example, for the first pattern, pick any note on the 2nd string (the B string) and then count 2 frets up from that note and play the note on the 5th string. These two notes are the same. He simply writes "Pattern 1 has roots on the second and fifth strings, two frets apart". Its easy to learn the five repeating root shapes, and from there, the scale shapes that are based around them.

One thing that I found that really helps is actually working the shapes out as diagrams on paper before attempting to play them on the guitar. Having a clear mental picture of the root shapes or scale shapes before you start trying to apply them to the fretboard really clears things up and helps avoid confusion.
# 11
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
mcullinan
Registered User
Joined: 12/30/10
Posts: 53
01/17/2011 2:18 am
Cool I will keep the shapes and advice in mind. I like the fact that Im not just going to be learning how to play some songs competently, but to know how to put together my own someday and the schooling behind it. I really didnt expect it from the course. Which is a big whole in learning and the difference between copying someones movements and piecing things together logically and with your ear.
M
# 12

Please register with a free account to post on the forum.