DianeB

@BR-549 I’m not sure if your question is intended to be as straightforward as it seems, but here goes. If you want to play the melody, those are the notes that you play. In this simple example, “Ode to Joy”, the first note is an E, then an F and a G, and so on. If we want to play this song in G, we must transpose it up a perfect fifth (or down a perfect fourth) and start on a B, then C, and D, and so on, with F# as the single accidental in the key of G. In this example, the melody starts on a pitch in the scale (E) which is often, but not always the case.

@Randy120 Pat led off his Side Eye tour here in Wilmington August 27 at our Baby Grand. (!) It's a smallish house, seating 300. I scored center seats in the sixth row (!!) with my guitar tutor, and we were both just over the moon. Afterwards, on the way to my car, we met the keyboardist James Francies and drummer Marcus Gilmore. (!!!) We might have just missed meeting Pat, as the trio was staying overnight in town for a second show -- I presume, at the adjacent hotel. Pat was probably still backstage with the crew. Wah! So close! 🤦‍♀️

Live Lesson Tonight! Creating Walk-Ups and Walk-Downs on Guitar. Whether you're playing Bluegrass, Country or Jazz adding bass lines to your rhythm playing is skill that you'll use constantly. Let's learn how to do it! Live from legendary Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. 7:00 pm CDT. Steve's handout is below. Watch here... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaKLy681H8BN4DYQkGF_UUw Walk Ups and Walk Downs Complete.pdf

@randyh1953 Randy, whether you should continue with your teacher or not depends mainly upon the relationship. Does your teacher inspire and challenge you? Does he, or she, respect your skill level and goals? Do you practice what you agree to work on? Do you bring specific questions to each session? Are your expectations realistic? I offer this as one who’s now starting my sixth year of private lessons — the fourth with the same teacher — and also as one who has tutored my own students (in another discipline) for 30 years. You don’t have to be friends. But a student and teacher do need to share a mutual love of learning for the subject, and the ability to communicate, to recognize what works and what doesn’t. When you have those, the monetary cost is practically trivial. I wish you success, but keep in mind that luck has almost nothing to do with it. "Old and all that?" did you say? Ahem! Unless you were born in the first three minutes of 1953, I'm older than you! 🤦‍♀️

“So, what do you think, Di?” It was more challenge than invitation. Yet again, Dave was gently coaxing me to play an open mic with him. After two years, my resistance was gone. Ten minutes at the library? Why not? “You win. Let’s do it,” I said. Dave is a veteran of open mics. We met a few years ago at our monthly acoustic jam. Warm, self-effacing, and possessing an exquisitely light touch on his Martin, he prefers to play standing — even for two hours. I’m as envious of his stamina as his improvisation. He loves the blues, I love my ballads, but our tastes are similar. It was a jam a little while ago, as we all paused between songs, when he softly said those three little words that melt every woman’s heart: “You’re getting better.” That did it. I gave in. He signed us up. I didn’t have rose petals to sprinkle around the living room floor, so instead I put down an amp and a microphone for rehearsing. We went to work. What songs? Who sings? Any solos? Who introduces whom? We tried Margo Prices’s “Hurtin’ on the Bottle”. After about the seventh run-through, I stepped back from the mic and shook my head. “Dave, this is a fun song to play, and I can almost sing it, but it’s a drinking song. It’s not me. And we’re going to be at a library with moms and kids. Let’s pass on it.” “Really? You think so?” “Yes. Let’s do something else. What if after we’re done, the library sets up the room for an AA meeting?” He laughed. “You’ve got a point. Any other ideas?” “Yeah, here’s one I’ve wanted to try. ‘Your Wildest Dreams’ by the Moody Blues. We’d need a synthesizer for that eighties vibe, but two guitars can carry it.” “All right. Got a chart?” “Here you go. Now, there’s a hiccup after the second verse right here….” . . . I arrived early and lugged my gear to a back entrance. The meeting room held forty chairs, tiny cafe-style tables with candles, two mics, and a baby grand piano. A staffer, Pat, busied herself setting up refreshments, as our sound guy, Tom, unraveled extension cords. I introduced myself and helped Tom test the mics. I plugged my acoustic into my Fishman Loudbox. Power on, but nothing came out. I fiddled with the knobs, still nothing. I was about to unplug when I remembered the volume control on the pickup in the sound hole. Whooom! Okay, there it is. I should do this more often. People trickled in. Dave arrived. The room was cold and every string on my guitar had pulled sharp. We retuned and mingled. Pat positioned a floor lamp at the back wall, dimmed the overhead lights, and we were bathed in a cozy glow. The leadoff musician was a no-show, so Pat introduced Dave, and he introduced me. We were greeted by some thirty faces of all ages, relaxed and polite. I heard myself welcoming everyone like I owned the place. Dave smiled. Ready? he asked. Let’s play, I said, and we counted ourselves into “The Best of My Love”. And all too soon, we came down on the final G of “Your Wildest Dreams”. We reclaimed our seats as Pat introduced the next performer. I felt my skin tingling. It’s becoming familiar. The velvet-voiced singer at the microphone added another layer of goosebumps to those from the endorphins and the air conditioning. Dave gave me his what-do-you-think-Di look. I just grinned and nodded.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!!!" Wow, @Pat L , what an exhilarating thought! 👍

Yeah, Greg! That's getting it done! 👍

@pkotof You're slightly mistaken, which will become evident when you watch the video. The very first exercise in Session 10, on page 57 of the lesson book, is played on all open strings. That's what the "0" means in the tab: zero fret = open string. This is standard tablature notation. The right hand pattern to be used is in the respective headings; "Finger Pattern 1, T123 (pima) and so on.

@costancr This sounds like normal growth, but let's address this "I cannot play something right that I've practiced correctly 50 something times". That's discouragement, and we want to get back to feeling good about practicing. Yes, you need recovery periods. They can be a short as a few minutes or as long as a few days. Too much repetition at one sitting is indeed counterproductive. Let some things rest a while; a little forgetting is actually beneficial to learning, because recalling strengthens memory. As you progress, you might notice something else: your standards keep rising. The proficiency that once seemed fine now isn't good enough, and your spirits momentarily sink. That's all good. I can't stress this enough, and I've been in education many years: how you feel is no indication of your progress. Keep chipping away. Make it enjoyable. We've all been there! 🙋‍♀️

That was a very good lesson, @Steve Krenz. I kept up for about 10 minutes, until around the time you left the middle strings (!) but you explained the central ideas very well. Happy to help with the chat any time. Neil picked up everything I missed, so we had it covered. 🙋‍♀️