Ok, it’s been a few weeks since last I blogged about this.
Zack’s been having me learning new techniques and focusing especially on 12 bar blues and embellishments and on breaking out of the rut of the single location on the fret (the b5 blues scales for instance). I’ve been learning all the other scales and modes that Zack passed on last time and picked up a few famous riffs from songs I really like.
Marty Robbins – El Paso – this is the one I’m concentrating on getting through. I have the chord changes but need to finish up on the leads.
Bob Seager – Mainstreet
The Beatles – Day Tripper
Add in:
Heart – Crazy on you
Tom Petty – Breakdown
The funny thing is that right now, they’re all coming along pretty easily. Certainly not the entire song (yet) but I can pull out the main bits that everyone associates with the songs. And these are just going “hey, I could probably play that with 30 minutes of practice” and sure enough I have the basic stuff down quickly and just need a little more practice to get it flowing smoothly. And I can play along with the song on my iPhone 🙂
So last week Zack had me going straight up and down the fretboard vs playing across the fret using one of the scales. Now he normally has me practice with the b5 Blues Scale but occasionally he’ll let me go outside that and into other scales (the b7 and b3 – that’s the ‘flat 3, flat 5, and flat 7’ scales). This time he had me shifting from each of the three scales but up and down. So the B string start with 5, 7, and 8 but keep going up or down to 3, 4 or 7, 8, and 9. These are the positions on the B string. Plus he had me start learning the whole notes on the fret as well but breaking it down by string. So E is open, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 12. So odd, odd, odd, odd, even, even, even. An easy pattern to learn really. And the B string is just as easy. The shift from odd to even is on the 5/6 positions on the fret. And of course since the low E is the same as the high E, you have three strings right away. In looking at the others (A, D, G), they’re easy as well from a pattern point of view. Open, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 for A. It’s shifted down one additional odd for D; open, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12. And G is easy too. Open, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12. And 12 is the same as Open so you have the next set of whole notes too.
If you’re looking at it, you may not be seeing the patterns but they’re there. A and D are the same as B and E but shifted down 2 frets so shoot, you have 5 of the 6 strings by just memorizing two patterns. Then you just have the one odd one (which really isn’t odd, just shifted down two more frets than the B string). And G is a mirror pattern with an extra at the top. 1 skip 1 skip 1 1 skip 1 skip 1 1 skip 1.
Easy once you see the pattern.
Next is practicing until notes are habitual.
You’re such a geek. Just play. Start to FEEL it:-)
That’s just it. The more I practice and get the locations on the fret, the freer I’m feeling. I was saying something like that in the earlier part of the post. I’m getting better and grasping how to play the song and getting it down in a short period.
I still jam and just did some using the up and down the fretboard technique Zack was showing me and it sounds better than before. I seem to be catching where the changes occur and which way the riff is going in order to play counterpoint to it.
So I think I am. Perhaps not making it clear enough but as I learn, I’m able to expand and try new stuff along with what I’m learning from the lessons.