Website forums are fantastic when you have a simple question. However, it can get a little trickier when you have an idea or a concept that you want vetted out. This one came straight from a test tube in my laboratory to the forum as a way to start soliciting feedback. I think you understood that so I really appreciate how you responded in an objective and thoughtful way.
And thanks for providing those links. For some reason I had not found those on the site before. I now see that you have personally supplied us with 1,247 of these awesome lessons so I guess I have a lot more exploring to do!!
Anyway, I checked them out and after watching you shred those scale patterns, I totally get where you are coming from in terms of testing the “application” of ideas and concepts. I had been thinking about that myself as well. I was wondering if this idea, which focuses on simplicity by “abstracting the speed bump” as you so eloquently described it, might come at the expense of efficiency due to the hand movements necessary to keep the simple pattern going. Since I am not able to play fast enough yet to field test this myself, I was hoping others might weigh in on that for me. So thank you for highlighting that.
I also suspected that this idea had most likely already been vetted out and didn’t survive the law of natural selection (meaning the best techniques bubble up to the top and become the ones that are passed on). After all, the guitar has been around for a very long time right? Having said that, people still keep coming along who do everything “wrong” only to discover something “right”. I remember the first time I tried to intentionally hit all those “wrong” strings so I could sound like SRV. :-)
So, in that spirit of exploration, here is another version of my document but this time using a “how to play it” approach. If folks are curious and don’t mind taking it for a spin, I’d like to hear their feedback.
In the end, I suppose it all comes down to “application”. We start by trying to wrap our brain around it. Then we commit it to our sub-conscious. Then we ingrain it into our muscle memory. If our application ends up being what we want then we are happy and it doesn’t really so much matter how we got there. If it ends up limiting how far we can go then we wish we had learned it a different way right from the beginning. Hmmmm…. sounds like I am describing my golf swing here. :-0
But seriously, thanks again Chris for your generosity on this site and the forums. I am grateful to have direct access to the masters!!