DianeB

@Oasis Welcome to the forum! Playing keyboards and drums gives you a great head start on learning guitar. I agree with Wim that it's best in most situations to start with Steve's general guitar course. That course takes up basic fingerstyle about midway through. The fingerstyle course assumes from the outset that you have certain skills. But if you are really intent on learning fingerstyle, there's no reason you can't start learning right hand patterns right at the beginning, on the six open strings. It won't be really musical, but some exercises just aren't. If you have access to an in-person teacher, take advantage, and the sooner the better. Explore the forum at your leisure. There's a lot of good advice here. Practice faithfully and the music will follow.

Hi, Mohammad. Glad to help. Practice, play, and participate. Join us for the Live Lessons if you can. Details are in the sub forum. If you can’t watch and chat live, you can watch it a few days later after Steve posts the video. If you’re just starting out with guitar, I especially recommend Tom Heany’s “First, Learn to Practice”. It’s concise and direct.

@gmills Greg, I have the pdf's (2015 or 2016) but can't locate the video among the ones Steve has archived on YouTube. I vaguely recall that it was done at Gruhn's, but I'm not certain. Silent Night (Basic Arr) Guitar Gathering.pdf Silent Night (Advanced Arr).pdf

Hello, Mohammad, and welcome to the forum. Since you're new, you probably haven't had time to explore. Practice is a big topic, and there's a lot of experience and thoughts about it here. I suggest you start with Steve's video, then consult some of the many good texts on the subject. I've collected a few of them here.

Carrier Wave When all is still I hear your voice No words no cry A brilliant chill If this be death It disappoints No fear no pain A quiet breath I ask again Who pleads so clear For my reply A cold refrain No spirit calls In words of man These sounds are wrought Where music falls What grace this brings Flows through my hands While echoes fade As silence sings — D. B.

@filipmo Another resource is Desi Serna's fretboard theory courses. He used to offer a DVD on the pentatonic scale, but apparently it's no longer available (except u$ed, by arbitrage).

Oh, Mandy, I am so sorry. That is devastating. Take all the time you need for yourself and let yourself grieve. Your guitar family will still be here for you. Diane

Hi, Tim, welcome to the forum and the course (again). The answer key to the L&M Lesson Book is here. See my (third) post.

Nancy, I like my paper music, but it takes effort to keep the paper controlled. I keep songs that I’m actively working on grouped in letter trays on desk space around the music stand. Other songs go into loose leaf binders. I have only a few pieces of 9x12 sheet music, and I keep these with my song books in magazine holders. Music stand extenders like this give you more real estate. I have friends who swear by their paperless systems on their tablets, with foot switches for page turning. Nice for performing. But my music stand iPad is devoted to logging practice, watching Steve’s lessons (via Dropbox), and playing along with YouTube. I need to be able to write directly on the page of the music as I’m working, and for this I prefer paper and pencil.

In his last Live Lesson on jazz turnarounds, Steve described how one of his students pointed out that Example 16 contains a “backdoor ii-V” (iv7-bVII7): EbM7 (I) - Cm11 (vi7) - Abm7 (iv7) - Db9 (bVII7) - EbM7 (I). Maybe this explains why I can never quite get “Misty” out of my head. The trick is two common chord tones along with two leading tones. Anton Schwartz explains here, and here.

@Scott Jackson Hi, Scott, and welcome to the forum. Your question is somewhat above my pay grade, but not that of instructor Desi Serna. His recent podcast on pentatonics may be helpful to you.

@Gran Gran Welcome to the forum, and I presume, to Steve's course. My take on your question is this: the guitar that will best help you learn is the one on which you actually practice and play. That guitar could cost anywhere from $25 to $250,000. It should suit the kind of music you want to play, give you pleasure, and it should be professionally set up so that you don't have to work against it. So, my layperson's short answer is, no. There comes a price point of diminishing returns at which the extra dollars do not add playability or tone as much as they add trim and finish. This point varies with the individual. A downside of owning a pricey instrument is that one can become more concerned with preserving its value than actually playing it. These days one can purchase a high quality instrument for $2,000, so your present guitar should serve you well as a student. All the best.

@Wim VD1 Congratulations, Wim! That's some real dedication! 👏

Let’s take a break, Otis. I’m getting older. Yeah? What else makes you so special? Ha, ha, ha. No, I'm just feeling it lately. Huh. What happened? Did a mirror catch you? There’s that, too. Like Bonnie said, "Those lines are pretty hard to take when they're staring back at you." Be glad someone's looking back in the mirror. And I feel… small. You're six feet tall. Do I have to listen to this? Come on. How long have you been my imaginary bass player, Otis? I don't know. About as long as you've had your imaginary talent. Oh, that’s good. Spot on. I can’t get my fingers to work. Gives me fits. Say what? I mean, I'm not a kid. Time and aptitude aren't on my side anymore. Anymore? Humph. Let me tell you, sister, they never were. Hey, when you're young, your life is all in front of you. You have all the time in the world. Says who? Your friend Leslie? Terrie? Jim? You don't know how much time you've got. Ever. Young or old. You're not helping. I’m not? Know what? You should give up. I know that look in your eyes. Hit me. All right, sister, since you asked: who on this good green earth are you trying to impress? Give up the ambition, already. Do you want another career out of this? Just stay on the path. Enjoy the flowers. Ouch. Now I remember why I keep you around. And just one more thing— With you, it’s never just one more thing, but go on. One more thing. Don't ever let me hear you feeling sorry for yourself again, or I'm gone. You've been given a lot, you hear? Friends. Two hands and a good head. Use them. Okay, okay. And one more thing— Slow down, my imaginary secretary can’t keep up. With your hair down to your shoulders like that, in that striped shirt, you look a little like Pat Metheny. Sometimes I don't know whether to smack you or kiss you. Do I sound like him? No way, Renée, not with that Virginia accent. How ab— No. No, no, no. Not even when you’re tuning. Don’t blaspheme. Just asking. Now you're all la-de-da because you skunked me in eight ball. I can't help it if you can't tell solids from stripes. And who loses to an imaginary opponent, anyway? So I'm honest. I called a foul on myself. So sue me. Just sayin’, sister, if you're gonna shoot pool, don't quit your day job. I'm retired. My day job is listening to you rag on the metronome to stay on the beat. Look who’s talking. But I'll hand it to you. You're killing it on "I Saw the Light". Well, listen to you, Miss Olden Small. Play for me, get the irony for free. I don't know why I put up with this. It sure ain't the pay. Want to run through "Imaginary Lover" again? That always cheers you up. May as well. I got to refill my drink. That's my drink, you twit. You're imaginary, remember? It was just my imagin-a-a-tion, running a-way with meeee... Otis, you're not much to look at, but you're still a keeper.