Triple-o

I have finally decided on a seven pattern major scale method to help learn notes and scales on the neck. 4 note Patterns like CBDC EDFE GFAG etc. I see the method behind the madness, but it’s still confusing to play,especially when you start to speed up.The 7 patterns cover the entire neck. I now see how patterns are more than just practice exercises, because some of these patterns sound really good.Add in a slur or two, a rest and vibrato and you have the makings of a lick.

Anyone using the book “introduction to jazz guitar ” by Jane Miller?

In one of my books the author Jane Miller was talking about improvs. she says they are like conversations off the cuff. She said “knowing the chord progression is like knowing the topic” of that conversation. That makes a lot of sense. Then she said listen to the melody against the chords to get a deep understanding of what the line is saying and that makes no sense.I’ve looked through a lot of books on soloing, but I have yet to find one that covers that “deep understanding” of melody and chords.She might has well “be blowing smoke rings”at my window. Improvisations seem to have a lot of practice time before a note is ever played. Not really off the cuff.

I have wha wha pedal and I thought that might be what they used. I just wasn’t sure. I don’t have a tremolo pedal.

Congratulations on finishing the course. You might take a look at Brain’s material at Active Melody .com he has a lot of material on solos. Can you explain what you mean when you say arpeggios are mostly used for chords outside the key?

When Bread starts this song is that a Wha wha pedal at the beginning?

I agree with the post that said, “Cheat,Cheat,Cheat. The first thing that came to my mind was a Bruce Springsteen show I saw awhile back.I couldn’t help but notice in his performances he used a capo and he pretty much strummed the came thing the entire show.Just simple fingering. So, if you have no say in your bands song list, It seems like you need to make changes on your own that will work and give your hand a break.

Having trouble with the C chord? Spend ten minutes a day for a few months and you’ll see a big improvement from practicing this song.

In Griff Hamlin’s Blues course he says that when you are fully developed as a blues player you will “feel the changes”. I know what you are thinking and no I am not confusing Griff with Obi Wan Kenobi talking to Luke.

I was reading the Fender specs for setting up meeting my Am Pro telecaster pickups.It said the distance from the pickups to the strings was 5/64 at the bass and 4/64 for the treble. (I saw on a tele forum where two of its members called Fender and one was told the starting measurement was 8/64 and treble 6/64.) It then said the distance will vary according to the amount of magnet pull from the pickup and the given measurement was just a starting point. So, I am assuming it’s all about sound and how hard you pluck or strum the strings that really determines the height. High enough so that the vibrating strings don’t hit the pickups. I assume the bass is set higher because the low E vibrates more. I would have assumed that magnet pull would be the same on every American Professional tele. Mine came from factory set at 8/64 and 6/64 . When I lowered the height I couldn’t really tell if it sounded different,but it may have been a little “brighter” at the higher setting. I also found on a YouTube site where someone was saying you should non magnetic measuring tools.

The first time I saw Steve keep time by tapping the guitar body as he played, I thought “that must be harder than walking and chewing gum” but when I tried it, I realized it wasn’t difficult and it really did help me keep time, especially on songs with a lot of rests, even more so than tapping my foot. Anything that keeps the metronome in the “drawer” makes me happy.

Just curious, is Big Bend’s Nut Sauce a $59.00 price tag placed on lip balm? How about their $44 applicator, is it just a $3 syringe?What do you use to lub saddles,nuts and string trees?

I think the next time I sand a saddle I will made a simple sanding station,so that the bottom of the saddle doesn’t get slightly beveled. Also something that prevents one from taking more material off the front or rear when sanding by having unequal pressure when sanding. I guess I will try making a compensated saddle for my Breedlove,but first I guess I need to figure out the fret board radius. I had always assumed the radius was the same for all guitars.When I hold my hand out there appears to be a natural radius the hand takes. The Fender Company seems to be using that natural radius of the extended hand on some of their guitars.

I know there must be numerous versions of this song, but I like the one that starts with the two bars of bass line before the iconic riff. I was watching a video of Roy play this song and also noticed that he fingered the riff different. Hard to believe he would keep changing his fingering for this song, so I am wondering if Steve might have chosen an easier fingering.

It was the new American professional and clearly was a 2016. I could’t find anything that led me to think Fender had made any changes, but I wasn’t sure. I guess I could have called Fender and asked.

I thought about that, but I didn’t think they would lower the price enough to make it worth it to me. I was thinking that a 2016 was a $1,000 Guitar.

Last week I broke down and bought the Memory Man pedal. Really nice! It’s making David Gilmour’s first solo in Comfortably Numb a lot more fun to practice. I also came across a good looking pedal board on “you tube” made out of mahogany and maple strips that wasn’t too difficult to copy. Assuming you have the tools.

The other day I’d seen where one of the members bought a butterscotch “tele” and I thought “wow” what a nice looking guitar. So, off to Guitar Center I went. When I got home I immediately started to work on Luther Perkins rhythm and solo for Folsom Prison Blues.Then I looked at the serial number and realized that it was a brand new 2016 model and not a 2018 American professional. So back I went to have them order a 2018 model. What would you have done?

I had the same problem until I started to place my pinky first and then the G and B.

Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini

I read that the Fender Strat he used at the 1965 Newport Festival sold for a million bucks. The story is that he left it on a charter plane and the pilot and his family had it for over 50 years. The pilot tried to return it and Dylan’s managers said something to the effect “no problem Fender-has plenty more”. There were some song lyrics in the guitar case, also probably worth a small fortune.

I must admit that before I picked up the guitar my music background was pretty sparse. I never knew the lyrics to Moon River.I especially like the line “my huckleberry friend” even though it took me a few minutes to understand why it made perfect sense. I must say that the beginning verse .”wider than a mile” sounded a lot better after I tried to change it and couldn’t find a suitable replacement. PS. the first position Bm7(b5) is a “heartbreaker” if only I had the hands, “I coulda been a contender”.

Yes,the ring finger is moving back and forth. When Playing a B7 chord the middle finger would be alternating between the 5th and 6th strings. Mark Hanson has a book that might be of interest,”Contemporary Travis Picking”

You may also find the version of Crazy in Hal Leonard’s book “100 Greatest Songs” of interest. It’s in the key of G and uses 4 more easy chords G#dim 7 and D+, C#dim7 and Bm.

I think that exercise 1 just uses the thumb to pluck the notes and the ring finger would fret the low G note. Normally On a C chord the thumb plucks the 5th string first and later the 4th string.The index plucks the 3rd string and the middle finger plucks the 2nd.