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CPPJames
Yak Addict
Fyro Macedonia
800 Posts |
 Posted - 02/15/2003 : 5:06:31 PM
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Currently, I'm a mediocre guitar player (I only play acoustic though). I can play all the Dave songs for the most part and I can do some other interesting things, but it's all about playing other people's songs. I really wanna be able to just sit on the couch and do some improv and come up with a song or something, but I'm clueless on how to do that. I know a few scales here and there, but I don't understand why they work, or anything really about them.
Are there any websites that you guys can recommend to help me understand the fundamentals of why certain notes sound good together and how to be able to improve my playing? If I play another pentatonic scale I'm going to shoot myself. |
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't. |
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1915 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2003 : 9:40:41 PM
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hey man!
Thats great to hear that you wanna move ahead. It all starts with learning other songs and picking up influences. But my greatest advice as a guitarist of 8 years and an ASCAP member is to say that nothing in the world compares to the writing of music and improving. Theres really no way to explain how to do it. But with solo improv you can base a lot of what you want to do using guitar modes. They are kind of like scales, and put together and learned well you can create a wide array of melody. Check out like www.guitar.com i think. But yea just remember when your sitting on your couch, it doesnt matter how shitty or great it sounds, the only thing thgat matters is that you just played it. I have a small cassette recorder i record everything then I go back and work on things I like. Umm what else could I say. Pick like 3 chords maybe, and try different things. You should have a common knowledge of theory and how things work and all that. but in no way is it nessesary. Well please check out my website at:
http://www.davecahill.com
Cya hope that helps at all! |
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dirtysloth
Fluffy-Esque
USA
1302 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2003 : 9:59:26 PM
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Try to pick up a basic theory book. That'll teach you why certain things sound good together. Here's a little piece of theory... In every major key you can base your chords off of 7 notes(if you're going to stay in key that is). Like the C scale would be CDEFGAB. Well, in every major scale you see the pattern Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, diminished.... typically written like I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, viiš ... so I know I can use C Major, d minor, e minor, F Major, G Major, a minor, and b diminished(rarely). This works for every key. To find what notes to play in a scale, just follow the circle of fifths... http://www.mikemurphy.net/GuitarLessons/lessons/lesson18.htm .... the order of the sharps is FCGDAEB and the flats are BEADGCF.... so when I look at the chart and see that D has 2 sharps, I know they are F and C... so the Major scale will read.. D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D.
Knowing things like this inside and out make improv a cinch. |
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CPPJames
Yak Addict
Fyro Macedonia
800 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2003 : 10:19:53 PM
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| I knew most of what you said...and I'm familiar with the circle of fifths, but there's one part that's always hung me up. I can figure out the notes in any major/minor scale but the part that confused me was when you said "I know they are F and C". How do you figure that out? |
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't. |
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dirtysloth
Fluffy-Esque
USA
1302 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2003 : 10:26:50 PM
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| That goes back to "the order of the sharps", which is FCGDAEB. Notice F and C are the first two. If you look at E, for instance, which has four sharps, they should be F, C, G, and D following that pattern again. And indeed, the E Major scale is E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E. |
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dirtysloth
Fluffy-Esque
USA
1302 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2003 : 10:35:27 PM
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| And just to throw it out there, if you already have your major signatures memorized, there are a couple ways to know right off the bat what a minor scale will be. If you know what minor scale you want, say a minor, then just go up a minor third(three half steps). From a, that brings us to c, so a minor will use the key signature of C Major, which is all natural, no preservatives. Another way is if you want to know "what minor key is all natural", then you go up a major sixth from the root note of the key that is all natural. From C, that will take you to a. The way that work best for me to find a natural minor scale is flat the 3rd, 6th, and 7th. So C minor would be C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C. Just to drive it home though, look at what a minor third is from C... it's Eb. The key signature of Eb Major has three flats, which are B, E, and A(from the pattern BEADGCF), and if you look at that c minor scale I just wrote out, those are the same flats. Again, these work for all scales. |
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tim111262
Is Anybody Here?
Canada
22 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2003 : 10:52:18 PM
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well i wanna do music in university, and our highschool doesent really offer a theory pgrm. we have a concert band and we just learn songs and some theory that relates to whats in teh songs
so inorder to get up to par with what i should know about theory
i got this computer theory pgrm.
its called "alfred essentials of music theory"
its not too expencive
you should pick it up
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Guitar is my life |
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Improving My Skills
