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Post subject: Communicating, just a few terms and concepts.
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:28 pm
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Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:22 pm
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Most of us start learning from our favorite artists, and in the present, see them and download them from youtube.
I wish I could have done that in the late 70's.
At the time, the only people in guitar player that bothered to mention scales and such were the jazz/fusion interviews and a few columns.

Others had formal training on the guitar, in my case, it was violin and baritone.
Beyond the usual chords, learning to tune and a couple of well-known songs, most players really didn't have to deal with Aeolian scales, let alone seeing a need for so much formal terminology.

At the same time, some of your favorite licks were not that hard to figure out, the tempo wouldn't go to shredding for a few years, and classic rock wasn't beyond the ability of most guitarists.

Yet, there would always be that nagging thought, how did he do it?
Or, why is it so complex?
Why doesn't it make sense?

There's a reason.
Those guitar gods had a certain amount of knowledge, and they had transformed their basic licks by incorporating a few basic skills into an excercise in ergonomic consolidation.

What does that mean?
The blues box/boxes are just an adaptation of a pentatonic scale.
Am;
4 .............5 7~~~
5.......3 5-----7
6 ............ 5

You have probaly done that in the past.
The rest of the basic lick;
1......................8 10
2......................8 10
3....... 5 7------9
4..................7

Again, something you have probably done in the past.
So, what is a pentatonic scale?
A scale that applies to a lot of genres, and is just the use of just 5 o 7 notes in a scale.

What's it good for?
It lets you cover alot of ground without needing to navigate across the strings and wonder if you are hitting the right notes.
If you ever tried to play all 7 notes while trying to follow a basic blues progression, you will remember how it sounded strange and out of place.

Ok, so far you know how to navigate starting from the 6th string.
Now, we will deal with starting with the 5th string.
3.................12 14~~~
4...........10 12---14
5...............12

Once again, something you have either played or heard.
The rest of the scale;
1........................15 17~~~~
2..............13 15-----17
3..................14

So far, so good.
If you have used that scale that starts on the 5th string to place a key, you can now see why this scale is important.
This scale is known as the Aeolian, in this case, A minor.

For those have noticed how the same natural scale, whether complete or pentatonic, can be used for playing Am or C.
Now, how to do the same for major chord compositions.
-you just start from C instead of A.


Now, why go through the trouble of learning a few simple concepts and terms?
You avoid a lot of wasted time in trying to show other musicians what you want to do.
Sort of going through Basic Training and finding that the military has a way of defining how to say anything in the shortest time possible.

Now you can call a key and have the band tear it up without wasting time.
So far, so good.
There's not too much to add, I'll wait to see how you guys react.
That's all for the moment, I'll keep tabs to see if you guys want to go just a little deeper.


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