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I believe
the most fundamental thing to know on guitar,
is to be familiar with the Chromatic Scale.
Beginning
the Journey demonstrates the Chromatic Scale, but on one string only.
That is because, to
see the Chromatic Scale written on every string on the entire fretboard,
is completely overwhelming. There is too much information,
and the formula can easily be missed.
It is not unusual to find guitarists who are extraordinary players, and yet
have no idea what
notes they are playing, or that two chords of the same shape, in neighbouring
frets, simply
alter chromatically. I've had students come to me with 10 years playing experience
who did not know the Chromatic Scale.
That meant that they also missed the relationship between neighbouring chords,
or scales, on the
fretboard. They've learned everything in isolation.
And most guitar methods teach everything in isolation.
Beginning
the Journey will show you the Chromatic Scale
with no fuss attached, it is a simple concept.
Without this, it is impossible to speak in the language of music
with a musician in plain English.
You will
learn a few easy chords straight away that could be
the basis of thousands of songs.
Learn the
make-up of the Major Scale and a few options on where to place a shape
on the fretboard, so you can play it in any key. Use this to make up your own
melodies,
and hey, while you're there, use the notes in the scale to learn some familiar
melodies.
The melodies to 'Lean On Me', 'La Bamba' and 'Sweet Caroline' and thousands
of other
songs can all be easily found by any new guitarist when they can play a single
shape
of the Major Scale on the guitar.
Scales are only fun when you apply them.
Learn how
to move chord shapes around the fretboard.
After all, if there are 12 notes in the Chromatic Scale,
there must be a major chord for every note.
Guitar
is unique.
We are able to play all 12 major chords using only one chord shape. This is
not difficult.
Trouble is, many guitarists play for years without discovering this.
You will learn how to move all the basic chord types, major, minor and 7th into
any key you
need. All you need is a shape, and the formula. You can use these chords in
the songs you
want to learn (just make sure they are at the right level).
The Co-Creative
Guitar Method series is not founded on needing to learn
any particluar song or 'out-of-copyright' material!
The basics
of writing a song are not difficult.
But if you put the right group of chords together, honestly, it couldn't be
easier.
There's no big deal. Stick with a I, IV, V Chord Progression and it's impossible
to go wrong.
Later you'll
see how to move these into any key, after all,
we don't want to be stuck playing everthing in the same key do we?
It's all
about understanding relationships.
I share a list of
examples of songs written using this formula.
You may know some of them already. They are good examples of how easy it can
be to
write your own song, and how easy it can be to learn a new song when you
understand these chords are put together for a reason.
The next step from
here then is if you can identify the first chord (great for developing
a good ear), you immediately know the other two chords, wohoo.
"So you're
saying I'll be able to work out songs by ear"?
I told you, it's all
about formulas.
Just two
weeks after his first lesson on I, IV, V Chord Progressions, one of my year
7 students
(11yrs old) won the local Rock Quest Regional Lyric Award for his second song
ever written!
Blues Chord
Progressions are a good foundation to learn because once learned,
you can easily recognise them anywhere they crop up. This includes rock and
jazz music.
We can't
leave out Blues Scales either, where would we be without the Pentatonic and
the
Blues Scales. It's lots of fun trying out your own riffs and now we understand
how to
get around the fretboard, transposing into every key will be a piece of cake.
I wish it was this simple when I learned guitar!
Many guitarists
waste a lot of time. Hey, set up everything you need FIRST.
Also, practise time needs to be structured if your going to fit in everything
you need to be
progressing on. Learn what's important, and what it takes to be a real Pro
so you can stop wasting time and really get somewhere fast.
And by
the way, did I mention you'll probably be able to cut your practise time
in half if you follow all the advice in this lesson?
Oh, now we're
talking. You will never look back once you see CAGED in action.
It is so simple (OK, some are tricky, but hey, we only need 3 notes don't we?)
Why didn't anybody show me this before.
All you need is 5 chord shapes and to able to spell CAGED. So, how's your spelling?
This is the
fretboard as you've never seen it before, and that's a fact.
Have you ever thought that loads of black dots trying to make patterns on the
fretboard looks
like a big blob of meaningless black dots, and you're going to get dizzy if
you keep this up?
SSHH. Part
of the secret of the Co-Creative Guitar Method,
is using colour to
unlock the fretboard.
But don't tell anyone, I'm not ready for the world to catch on yet.
Once the world knows about it, everybody's going to want to do it.
Many students
don't like the idea of learning to read music.
For some it comes with delusions of "This is going to be so hard",
or
"Reading music is really complicated".
I used to only teach note reading to students who wanted to learn.
Big mistake in my opinion. The main reason they don't want to learn is because
they
perceive it as something more difficult than it really is. They are going to
get to a point,
when they either need it for something, or just plain wish they had the ability.
In my experience,
only one student has actually struggled on beyond any help.
I can almost see the physical wall now, and there is certainly something stopping
his pen
connecting to the exercises that would help to get him going.
Almost all students, I guess that's over 99%,
suprise themselves at finding it very straightforward to get going on.
'There is
an entire section of 12 lessons devoted to Duration, Time Signatures,
Chromatic Signs and Note Reading, including exercises to write.
This section can be approached any time you're ready for it. I save it up till
my students
are pretty comfortable getting around the guitar with good tone and easy fingering.
Test yourself
on the concepts you've learned with the quiz.
It will help you discover if you've spent enough time on each lesson, by testing
your recall.
If you can answer the question, you've understood the lesson. If you can't answer
the question,
go back to the lesson that discusses the topic for another study session.
If you don't
have a tutor to check your answers, you can check your own answers
by going into a lesson to research, or you can download this .pdf answer
file.
Do you wish
you had somebody to turn to who you could ask questions of,
instead of being alone with a book?
You are not
alone. Included in each book is a Teaching/Learning Tips! guide.
Whether you are teaching yourself with this method or teaching a student,
this guide is full of hot tips to refresh your learning/teaching approach.
You can also contact me anytime if you have questions or are looking for new ideas.
Each book
has a special Tutor Tear Out,
so if you are using this book to teach a student the guitar, you have a one
page
track record of their progress. Tear this page out and keep it in your student
files.
I keep them
in a ringbinder and update my student records as I go.
I don't have to rely on my memory to know what my students have covered with
me.
You can include the titles of songs you are using to explore the ideas presented.
If you are
teaching yourself guitar (not recommended for new players) you can track your
own
progress. Just mark the date next to each lesson once you have completed the
lesson.
You can include the titles of songs you are using to explore the ideas presented.
This means you have
a constant updating list of your repetoire.
The focus is on understanding the guitar and its language and being creative
By the
end of this series students have some great tools on hand for
understanding
the deeper concept of not just guitar, but making music
Ordering is simple.
There are 2 ways you can place an order.
You can email, fax or print & post the order form
and pay by credit card using secure PayPal, or pay by cheque (within NZ only).
If for any reason you are unsatisfied you can return the book for a full refund.
That means you have nothing to lose. You can see if this unique guitar method is for you without any risk involved.
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the Journey | Exploring
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