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May the 4th Session be with me!


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Hey!

First off, forgive the awful pun! But I finished Session 3 today, and I am moving on to the next lesson tomorrow!  😄

I'm excited to have fun with this lesson. I have read a little about the 2 part approach to this one, so I think I'm gonna do it that way. Is there any other obvious tips that other people wish they would have known going into the 4th session? 

Thanks!

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@FTB23  Hi there! Congrats on a good start. Like many wise teachers, Steve starts the course with very small bites to give the student a sense of progress. As you can tell from previewing the rest of the course, there are no more small bites with "Session" in their title. The sessions will now be more substantial and it will require significantly more time to complete them.

Do not be deterred. Create your own small bites. Ignore the "recommended times to complete", as they are unrealistically brief for most students. It will take as long as it takes. Keep your attention on the process, not the goal, and you are in for a long and happy guitar journey. 

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@FTB23 don't get too super tied up with Session 4 Bonus string jumping exercise 

Many; me included got far to wound out with  that 1 excerse 

Lots of good stuff in S4 and 4b

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Thanks for the helpful tips! I will keep you updated on my progress.

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Congratulations! Sing or call out the notes like Steve recommends. Use the chords you are learning to play songs right away. It will get you playing and having fun sooner. You will improve a lot over the next year. Sing along also because it is fun and people want to hear songs.  

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When I first purchased the course a few years ago I was still working full-time and unfortunately did not get through Session 4.  Now that I am retired...I have started over, reviewed Sessions 1 through 3 with little problem and am also getting through Session 4 more easily than the first time. (Being able to read music has helped a lot.) It helps me to shut the DVD off and work through the rough spots on my own without getting frustrated about keeping up.  Then I try working with the DVD after practicing on my own. Don't worry about projected time frames;  you will get there.

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Hi there everyone, I’m hoping this will be a good place to get advice from time to time. Super brief summary, I’m a “career beginner” with guitar. I’ve always let frustration win in past and am determined not to let it again. I’ve come back to the learn and master guitar series and am progressing through it, currently on session 4. What I’m having trouble with is sight reading and playing. I’ve made progress doing that in earlier sessions but now it’s getting to be too much. When I get into the exercises and the Minuet in C, if I don’t write in the notes it’s painstakingly slow. If sight reading is a requirement to playing then I might as well forget it now and save myself the time! I’m not saying there isn’t value in knowing how, I’m just saying that with tab these days I could practically get by without it. I hate to derail all the progress I’ve made to this point if I’m going to have to spend the next year learning to be proficient at sight reading and playing. I’d welcome your suggestions and experiences. 

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@Randy Breeding yes Session 4 is a mile stone once you compete it.. going below the staff and having ledger lines is a tricky bit . and Steve recommends writing in the notes on the page (as long as you're doing paper printed out lessons) and as you get better you can start erasing the notes from the page.

Sight reading ends up in the long run as part memorization and sight reading.. the more you do it the more it comes.

I know even now if I'm learning a new song for choir we don't do much single note runs but for me to learn the rhythm of the piece.. I play the single note melody and it is slow going at first as I am 'cold reading' the page as my memory of the piece increases so does my playing speed.

just keep at it.. you'll find that you'll probably be close to memorizing all of Minute in C before you fully get the sight read notes in your head.

 

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@Eracer_Team-DougH thank you for the reply. I am someone who’s strictly playing for myself and my enjoyment. Won’t be playing any gigs or performing for anyone. I’m all for as much musical knowledge and experience as I can get, and will certainly put forth the effort to acquire it. I’m just at a real crossroads here with this sight reading, at this point in the course. Learning the guitar has to be at least part fun, and if I take all the time necessary to become a proficient sight reader... kiss that goodbye in a hurry. For what I’m after I feel tab will more than suffice while also practicing sight reading. It’s the “master” part that’s hanging me up. 

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7 hours ago, Randy Breeding said:

@Eracer_Team-DougH thank you for the reply. I am someone who’s strictly playing for myself and my enjoyment. Won’t be playing any gigs or performing for anyone. I’m all for as much musical knowledge and experience as I can get, and will certainly put forth the effort to acquire it. I’m just at a real crossroads here with this sight reading, at this point in the course. Learning the guitar has to be at least part fun, and if I take all the time necessary to become a proficient sight reader... kiss that goodbye in a hurry. For what I’m after I feel tab will more than suffice while also practicing sight reading. It’s the “master” part that’s hanging me up. 

Randy,

In my opinion you don't need to master sight reading to the extend that you can sight read and play simultaneously at performance tempo. This for sure has its benefits, but I don't see it as a necessity.

Tab only tells you where to put your fingers. There is more to learning and understanding music however.

So I would encourage you to learn music notation well enough in order to know what notes to play, their duration, the rhythmic characteristics of a song, the pauses, etc. You can use the info provided by the sheet music in combination with the additional info from the tab (where on the fretboard to play the note) to decipher and learn a song bit by bit. 

After "decoding" a song, I learn the all parts by heart anyhow. In a performance (or recording) setting, I want to focus on putting emotion and feeling into my music and not on reading the notation.

I do recommend to build a good knowledge of music theory as provided by the course. Understanding how music works with keys, scales, chords, harmony etc. is part of the fun and will be essential to continue to make progress as a musician in the long run.

Wim.

 

Edited by Wim VD1
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17 minutes ago, Wim VD1 said:

Randy,

In my opinion you don't need to master sight reading to the extend that you can sight read and play simultaneously at performance tempo. This for sure has its benefits, but I don't see it as a necessity.

Tab only tells you where to put your fingers. There is more to learning and understanding music however.

So I would encourage you to learn music notation well enough in order to know what notes to play, their duration, the rhythmic characteristics of a song, the pauses, etc. You can use the info provided by the sheet music in combination with the additional info from the tab (where on the neck to play the note) to decipher and learn a song bit by bit. 

After "decoding" a song, I learn the all parts by heart anyhow. In a performance (or recording) setting, I want to focus on putting emotion and feeling into my music and not on reading the notation.

I do recommend to build a good knowledge of music theory as provided by the course. Understanding how music works with keys, scales, chords, harmony etc. is part of the fun and will be essential to continue to make progress as a musician in the long run.

Wim.

 

Randy- I concur with WIM. It will pay dividends in your music journey.

Mike

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Wim and Mike,

Thank you both SO much for the advice. Wim, I appreciate the detail in your answer. That’s exactly the direction I wanted to go in but I wanted to ask opinions of more experienced players. I’m grateful for the opportunity to ask and your willingness to help. 
 

Randy

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@Randy Breeding Randy: I never said master sight reading.

here's my quote: "I play the single note melody and it is slow going at first as I am 'cold reading' the page as my memory of the piece increases so does my playing speed"

as I said as your memory of the piece increases so does your playing speed. 

the single note sight reading helps get the flow and meter of a piece. once you start to memorize it then speed increases, lessening the need to sight read.

but @Wim VD1 is correct. TAB will only take you so far, to be able to play the music that's in you, you need the theory part that Steve provides. 

many before you have come through this area and many have bailed but if playing guitar is what you want to do.. Follow Steve's direction.. listen to recordings what Wim and others have posted on this forum, that's what you can do . 

Edited by Eracer_Team-DougH
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@Randy Breeding I recently completed Session 4 myself, and it is a big one compared to the first 3.  Take your time to absorb the material. Learning to play an instrument not unlike learning a language and it doesn't happen overnight.  There are skilled musicians who never have learned how to read music, but I can tell you from personal experience that once those notes on the page could be "translated", a whole new world opened up for me. Enjoy the journey!

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Hi Randy Breeding: Congrats on hanging in there. I stopped the first attempt in session 4. Glad I gave it another try. I concur with the more experienced players above. Reading music has already paid dividends for me. For example, the Song Hits full version songs have chord blocks, but only music notation for the melodies and any other notes played.

When I started L & M I set my music at a distance where I could see the notes, but not the tab. I kept at it and now I don't care for tab. Reading only tab is like only being able to access stories available as audio books. It's all good, but if one has the option...

Rock On! 

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Hi, learning this skill has a key word - "reading" - the same skill you learned in grade school to read a most complicated language - English.  At least music is straightforward and no things like - " I read a good book", vs "Will you read this book for me?".  Hang in there and remember you also eat an apple one bite at a time.  Cheers, F

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