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Six weeks in Session 19


Wim VD

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I started Session 19 some 6 weeks ago and today I managed to play through Steve's chord tone exercise from the bonus materials ("Building a solo from the ground up" ) for the first time without having to stop the DVD :-) This exercise goes through a chord progression several times, and the task is to play the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th of every chord in the progression.

My initial approach was to try to use my memory and theoretical chord knowledge in order to find the right note to play, but that involved too much thinking and slowed me down so much that I could not keep up with the video. This approach was not going to work for me, so I had to look for another way.

On this guitargathering forum, @matonanjin then recommended the book " Chord-Tone Soloing" by Barret Tagliarino to me (Thanks again for this, Ron.) This resource is full of exercises on major and minor scales, arpeggios, modes and the CAGED system.

For some weeks now, and out of this book, I have practiced major and minor triad arpeggios in the 5 CAGED positions, in combination with 2 modes (Ionian and Dorian). This approach of memorizing note patterns using the muscle memory is really effective and beneficial. Knowing the position of the root note of the chord is now sufficient for me to find the 3rd and 5th without further thinking, and get me through Steve's exercise.

Over the next weeks, I will start to put the 7th chord arpeggios and the Mixolidian mode my practice routine as well.

All of this really feels like a huge breakthrough to me. I thought soloing was for people with a special talent, but now I figured out that I can actually learn this and get a long way by using the chord tone approach.

I realize it is going to take months of practice to get all of these arpeggios and modes under my fingers, but it has started to pay off already. 

Wim.

 

 

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Good for you Wim! Keep up the good work!

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@Texaspackerfan, how are you doing in Session 19?

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22 hours ago, Wim VD said:

I started Session 19 some 6 weeks ago and today I managed to play through Steve's chord tone exercise from the bonus materials ("Building a solo from the ground up" ) for the first time without having to stop the DVD :-) This exercise goes through a chord progression several times, and the task is to play the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th of every chord in the progression.

My initial approach was to try to use my memory and theoretical chord knowledge in order to find the right note to play, but that involved too much thinking and slowed me down so much that I could not keep up with the video. This approach was not going to work for me, so I had to look for another way.

On this guitargathering forum, @matonanjin then recommended the book " Chord-Tone Soloing" by Barret Tagliarino to me (Thanks again for this, Ron.) This resource is full of exercises on major and minor scales, arpeggios, modes and the CAGED system.

For some weeks now, and out of this book, I have practiced major and minor triad arpeggios in the 5 CAGED positions, in combination with 2 modes (Ionian and Dorian). This approach of memorizing note patterns using the muscle memory is really effective and beneficial. Knowing the position of the root note of the chord is now sufficient for me to find the 3rd and 5th without further thinking, and get me through Steve's exercise.

Over the next weeks, I will start to put the 7th chord arpeggios and the Mixolidian mode my practice routine as well.

All of this really feels like a huge breakthrough to me. I thought soloing was for people with a special talent, but now I figured out that I can actually learn this and get a long way by using the chord tone approach.

I realize it is going to take months of practice to get all of these arpeggios and modes under my fingers, but it has started to pay off already. 

Wim.

 

 

@Wim VD ; you're progress and practice ethic is admirable, and your playing excellent!  I read your posts with interest... and hope I'll be at your level in my lifetime.  (working on it:-) If only we were on the same continent...

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1 hour ago, Wim VD said:

@Texaspackerfan, how are you doing in Session 19?

Hello @Wim VD 

Its a slow process. The best thing i've been doing is chomp at it little by little.  What is really helping is playing in a real life situation and take what Steve is showing us and use it in live jams.  i've taken what Steve has shown us and tried to put it to use, but there is no substitute for on the spot playing, your brain seems to get things when it is pressured in those situations. you will flop at times but it remembers not to dot it again for some reason, at lest for me.  Try to let go and let your brain just play on its own. I hear licks now and go wow that was neat how can i do that and just let the fingers go searching, for me they just seem to find a path. i have to admit a lot of my solos are from the hip, some work and some don't, but each time i do try i learn more. I guess what im saying is just learn what steve has guide lined to us but dont be mechanical. just let go and make mistakes.  as far as your arpeggios, of chords, my practice was to make chords anywhere possible on the guitar and thats where i tend to go for my leads.

Thank you for reaching out to me, please fill free to anytime. Its nice to see someone come this far as well. 

oh, ive been playing at a local tavern here with a few guys and its been a wonderful experience.   

good luck, 

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On 13-2-2018 at 11:14 PM, NeilES335 said:

@Wim VD ; you're progress and practice ethic is admirable, and your playing excellent!  I read your posts with interest... and hope I'll be at your level in my lifetime.  (working on it:-) If only we were on the same continent...

@NeilES335, Thanks for your nice comments. Concerning my progress, I still find it difficult to maintain skills and knowledge. Taking the chords from Steve's Jazz Chords fredboard workout as an example, even though I spent 4 months on that topic, I have the feeling that after shifting topic and working on soloing for 6 weeks, I have lost about 25% of my Jazz chord knowledge already.

So making a good practice schedule including learning new skills, maintaining existing knowledge and learning some songs is difficult. But on the other hand it is a nice problem to have.

Regarding the other continent, I have spent some time in the Ottawa area 15 years ago. There was a merger between my company Alcatel and the Canadian company Newbridge, and I was working with the project team in Kanata. I had a great time there and plenty of good memories. I like Canada a lot.

Wim.

 

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On 14-2-2018 at 12:38 AM, Texaspackerfan said:

Hello @Wim VD 

Its a slow process. The best thing i've been doing is chomp at it little by little.  What is really helping is playing in a real life situation and take what Steve is showing us and use it in live jams.  i've taken what Steve has shown us and tried to put it to use, but there is no substitute for on the spot playing, your brain seems to get things when it is pressured in those situations. you will flop at times but it remembers not to dot it again for some reason, at lest for me.  Try to let go and let your brain just play on its own. I hear licks now and go wow that was neat how can i do that and just let the fingers go searching, for me they just seem to find a path. i have to admit a lot of my solos are from the hip, some work and some don't, but each time i do try i learn more. I guess what im saying is just learn what steve has guide lined to us but dont be mechanical. just let go and make mistakes.  as far as your arpeggios, of chords, my practice was to make chords anywhere possible on the guitar and thats where i tend to go for my leads.

Thank you for reaching out to me, please fill free to anytime. Its nice to see someone come this far as well. 

oh, ive been playing at a local tavern here with a few guys and its been a wonderful experience.   

good luck, 

@Texaspackerfan,

Thanks for your reply. I realize that at some point, I will need to get out of my practice room and look for opportunities to play more in a live setting and with others as well.

At this moment, I am probably focused too much on learning new skills and too little on applying them.

Finding the right balance is part of the learning, I guess.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

 

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