EDDY123 wrote:HEY GUYS AND GALS. I was reading another post on theory and it has got me thinking, I have stugled to find people to jam with , not because no one has contacted me but because of my lack of ability. I can rip out a solo that rocks but I have so much trouble lerning other players stuff. I have had so manny ofers for bands and I keep sticken to this origanal thing witch is realy a cop out. I have started trying to play covers again and I am stugling but trying. I am terable at book leningDUHHHHHH 8th grade education. Do you guys think I should take some lesons from a teacher and explain to the teacher my situation. This is a verry hard post for me it is as ohnest about my abillitys as I can get. THANKS!!!!!!!
PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow man I give credit for posting this, unfortunately your post leaves me with questions rather then answers, it would be helpful if you could outline on you what you need help, I’m gonna assume that you’re unable to read the neck of your guitar, I.E. you can play a lead and hit the right notes but you can’t name those notes and the chords needed to back them up, the fact that you’re willing to learn is a plus in your favor and contrary to some comments from other posters learning some theory doesn’t mean giving up creativity or originality.
I’ve come across players with the same problem who I was happy to pass along what I know cause they were willing to learn for the same reason you’ve outlined, they wanted to play with other musicians but they lacked in theory which is essential when playing with others, when a bunch of players get together weather they’re playing originals or cover there is a language which is used namely chords, notes bars or measures, fifth, octaves, sevenths etc.
Again I’m assuming this is the kind stuff you’d like to learn which for a guy in your position can seem overwhelming, the good news is that is not difficult, like everything else when you don’t know something it looks difficult and mysterious until you understand it.
You know the hard part already I mean playing a solo well and staying on key contrary to some other players who know theory but are not fluent on technical skills. It’s almost frustrating to me to see a player like you been so close from being a complete musician and not be able to help due to the distance, but with computers this is not a big problem.
I give some starting pointers hope they will not confuse you, first memorize couple things; the progression of notes, DO, RE, ME, FA, SOL, LA, TE, DO and translate them in English which are C, D, E, F, G, A, B. C, after that learn the fingering needed to play those chord all of them at the bottom of the guitar neck next the head knot, at this point learn the intervals which are marked already on your guitar neck with dots, interval in case you don’t know are the counts of the frets needed to move from one chord to the next, they are also used for solo scales but for chords and they are; 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1. Meaning when playing a C major chord and want to play the next chord on the progression which is D major the interval numbering tells you to move up 2 frets without changing the fingering, keep in mind to play only the strings you’re pressing
This is true for every chord played at the bottom of the neck next to the head knot, but as you move up the neck using the intervals numbers or the dots on the neck to go from one chord to the next without changing the fingering form, you’ll have to bar the chord with the index finger or press on the first 2 stings (E and B stings) along the rest of the stings that the chord calls for. This is due to the fact that when playing at the bottom of the neck you have the head knot there, but when moving up the neck you can’t move the knot so your index finger has to serve as movable knot in order to maintain the same finger’s position, with this system to can play all the chords anywhere on the neck without changing the fingering form.
I think this would be a good starting point for you, after that you could move on the learn what are the notes needed to form any given chord, once you’ll learn that the next step would be to learn sharps, flats, minor, cycle of fifths, solo scales which becomes easer once you learn the notes forming chords.
BTW a chord if formed by playing 3 strings therefore if you play an E major chord strumming all 6 strings, you’ll be playing the E major chord twice so if you learn the 3 notes of the first 3 strings, the notes of the other 3 strings are the same. Example; to play an E major chord you need to play the lower open E string, then press on the B note of the second string (which is A when played open) and press on the E note on the third string (which is D when played open) most power chords are played with 3 strings, however for some songs a rhythm guitar plays 6 strings or a chord twice for each strum.
Hope this makes some sense to you let me know if you need additional info’s on what I’ve tried to explain other guys here might be able to do a better job them me so you might not need me to confuse you any further.
Good Luck
) and the D and E. It's easy..
...Would be real cool if your songs that you wanted to learn were on cassette so you could just take little snippets of the song and rewind and play and rewind and play,etc... till you get it right.. you can also use that same feature in itunes which is what I use. I refuse to go on to the next part of the tune till I have each"snippet" down to your liking... if it's a very intricate lead, don't kill yourself trying to get every freakin' note down... you can get away with just the basic sound and the peeps will still enjoy it! Here's me doin' a simple lead in a Zeppellin tune that's pretty much me shredding it and the crowd still loved it! :
