NeilES335

@dan0725 Sometimes I have to remind myself we're, after all, doing this for fun, right? 😉

@dan0725This happens to all of us from time to time so first of all, don't worry about it. A days break from practice is good sometimes. We need to step back and refocus occassionally. Goals are great and necessary. You seem to have the Practice and Persistence down... what you need now is Patience.You'll get it👍.

I see nothing wrong with looking at your freting hand while playing. (Watch Steve K; he does it all the time) Eventually, your "muscle memory" will kick in, and you're fingers will just naturally go to the right place /shape. So, don't worry about it. N

@josev ; The short answer is; "All of them!" Steve K begins to introduce many of these very important concepts in more detail starting in Session 7 with Major Scales, then Keys and Key Signatures in Session 8, Intervals in Session 9/10, Pentatonic Scales and Triads in Session 11, and so on. I'm not sure where you are in the program, but please take my advice (and that of many others...) Don't skim over the "Therory " parts of these lessons! It's true that this is more "book work" and maybe not as much fun as learning a new chord or tune. But what you learn here will make your progress so much easier, and fundimental to you becoming not just some person who can strum a few simple 3 chord songs, but a real guitarist and musician. Study hard and play well! N ps; Steve has said many times that there's no harm in lookings at whatever "resources" you need to help you progress. I did find though that it's best to largely stick to the program, and not be too distracted. And don't get sucked into the YouTube "You Can Master Guitar in 7 Days" stuff. It takes Patience, Practice and Persistance!

While Steve K does not address "The Circle of Fifth's" directly in his Learn and Master Guitar course, many of us will have heard of it as a tool to understand Sharps and Flats and their order on the staff. I didnt personally use it, and followed Steve's method which is basically memorization. I did hear about it quite a lot and wondered how it worked. You might too, so I post here a YouTube video with what I think is a very good explaination of "The Circle of Fifths". Use it if you will... at very least it could help you understand a bit deeper.

A bit of a niche market for sure... goes to show you you can't always trust the Google reviews or rants... N

@v7#5b9 (domsevensharpfiveflatnine... thats a mouthful 🙂 )Yes I believe Frank said in a video that this was his source (or something like "2001 Melodic Exercises" ) which he edited for guitar. N

We all need and want to learn and memorize the fingerboard better. Many of us learn the first 5 positions, but much above the 5th to the 12th fret, especially on the G and B strings, remains somewhat foggy in memory, if we know it at all. These Slonimsky Exercsies are designed to help us read notation, and memorize the fretboard at the same time, while not relying so much on Tab. (Tab is fine and useful in some cases to show us where on the fretboard to play a given note, but the "real musicians" barely give it a passing look; they rely on notiation. ) It's important to "SAY AND PLAY" the notes, clearly and steadily. Tempo/speed is not important. I'm working through the first 8 exercises. (It looks quite easy at first... and it is, if you just play the tab; but that's not the point! ) Here's the first 2 to get started. Hope this helps. Regards; Neil Slonimsky Exercise For Guitar #2.pdf Slonimsky Exercise For Guitar #1.pdf

@DianeB Hi Diane; I see that you've discovered navigating and editing this site in it's current configuation is a "challenging" task... Moving, organizing and deleting posts can (and often does) result in some inintended results. I confess this happened to me recently while trying to organize the Monthly Recording Challenge and accidentally deleted the December topic entirely prompting a mini-investigation by several members into what happened...oops. Apperently these deletions are not recoverable either.... (Sorry to @Nutty 1 and other contributors... Have fun with the editing! The site could use it...🙂 Regards; Neil

"Don't ever feel locked into something that you've learned... You can just take a piece of that and add it to something else you've learned." Robben Ford (Blues Revolution - Truefire Lesson - Jazzed Blues Chords) (This is a terrific lesson by the way... new ways to play the blues and very practical explaination of applied music theroy....It;s Free - just sign up as a Free Sturdent account) https://truefire.com/robben-ford-guitar-lessons/blues-revolution/jazzed-blues-chords-chords-demo/v21348 )

Each song session includes an introduction by Steve on the history of the song (many are very interesting) and Instruction Section, and a Performance Section (where Steve plays the song over his own backing track) So there is no "backing track" per se with just rythm guitar, bass and drums, or bass and drums alone. ( I've been told there were some copywrite issues doing this). You could probably find these on line if you felt you needed them. N

I have the Song HIts full package. I'd say overall this is a very well produced course, with excellent video (the latest one is in HD quality) and sound. While the course is intended to accompany the Learn and Master Guitar course, on a Session by session basis of difficulty, I personally found the songs didn't always align perfectly with the course session number. The songs star out with pretty easy 3 or 4 chord strumming songs, that will buid your confidence, ability to change chords and your rythm. I tended to practice and learn the songs I liked as I was able to play them, and skip the one's I didnt care for. Towards the end of the sessions on SH, the jazz tunes are quite difficult, and these are a "goback someday soon- work in progress" for me (even though I've "finished" LMG.) Learning and playing songs is the ultimate goal after all, so If you're looking to do that, then I'd say the Song Hits is well worth it. Happy Tunes; Neil

@revster Congrats on this one! 12 Strings have a unique sound perfect for strumming and accompaniment of a singer or choir, folk country or bluegrass music. I've recently tried one at LM just like this one... Enjoy; Neil

@Bigdaddy The "original" Learn and Master Guitar course (the most recent version) is available at our store; https://gx169.infusionsoft.app/app/storeFront/showProductDetail?productId=5 This is a DVD and book based course. I am not aware of a "on-line" version available. You could "rip" the DVD's and store them on your personal computer. Previous shows of LIve Lessons are available at our Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel under "Videos" for viewing on-line any time. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaKLy681H8BN4DYQkGF_UUw/videos Regards; Neil

@Cindy Thank you Cindy, however I cannot see any link...could you re-post this please? Neil

"Nitsuj" ..."Justin" backwards... I think he'll find it harder than he thought... most of us are hard wired left or right handed, so he'll be rewiring his brain at the same time... on the other hand (pun intended) he knows the chord shapes already so he'll have an advantage there. Reminds me of when I was 13 and learning my first "cowboy" chords and the finger pain.. Like the song says; practised on the back porch until my fingers bled. 🙂

Welcome Back!

Very good @dan0725 . Now you have the notes and tune under your fingers, my suggestion is for you to try and make it sound bit more fluid and musical. Keep it up👍 N

Welcome back... good health tto you. N

You're welcome oRn. (Sensitive..possibly. Polite..generally)

If you'll pardon correction, it's Neil Young...

I got a couple of freebies too... including this one.

Truefire actually has some Free Lesson downloads right now every hour and contests to win some great prizes like a Gibson Les Paul Standard (but you can't have that one @matonanjin 'cause that one's mine 😉 )

Hello Members Well our site continues to grow and become a valuable resource for all manner of guitar learning and music questions and comments. We appreciate and encourage your participation. It is that time of year again to "Clean house" however, and as, such you may noticd some now irrelevant posts are no longer there, or others have been moved to a more appropriate Forum or topic. We ask that in order to keep things tidy as possible, that you be sure you're posting in the MOST APPROPRIATE FORUM for your topic or subject material. And although no-one will scold you to severely if you stray off topic, please try to stick to the point! All the Best; study hard and play well Neil

@ChrisJ032 You will find this information and more on my Forum Topic here: