it is going pretty well. this is actually the longest i stuck with it in the 4 times i have tried to play so that is good.
it is def the physical/technical parts that are getting me. i will just keep playing rocksmith and doing the 'games' that help with the techniques. keeps it fun.
thanks mang

Got my guitar back from being set-up on Tuesday and have been playing around the last couple of nights. One thing that's surprising me is I'm having trouble with bends. It's been a long time since I've done a lot of bends so it shouldn't be surprising, but it is for some reason! I went with medium strings -- maybe back in the day I used to play the super slinky ones or something.

Trying to set up a practice routine. I bought the basic theory book from Justin's site and am slowly going through that since I never learned anything beyond minor pentatonic/blues in the past before moving on to learning songs. This time I want to learn more of the how and why rather than just mimic stuff. Also trying to learn more of the fretboard notes outside of the obvious ones on the low E and A and want to break outside of the pentatonic boxes. (95% of my past improvising was over A and E and restricted to a couple of pentatonic boxes.)

Also bought that Ear Trainer program someone mentioned in a thread somewhere in this forum, and am trying to figure out a good routine for working with it.

I have about 2 hours each night to practice so want to build a routine where I work on all that stuff plus get to just riff and have fun regularly. Maybe plan 3 days a week to work on stuff, and 2 days for fun. Leave the extra 2 days for bonus work if they're available.

Oh some more info about the Palmer Pocket Amp: the clean settings are not very versatile imo. You just don't have much room to turn up the drive on any of the amp models before you start to overdrive/distort. It would probably be a pretty good little practice tool for someone who always plays with distortion, but the clean sounds are pretty limited.

it's funny, we are on opposite sides of this learning. i have all the theory knowledge to build on and really need to get the coordination and technical aspect of learning. coming up with a practice routine has been a problem for me from the beginning. just really don't know what to practice when left on my own, but lessons i look up online seem to start at the really basic where i get bored.
if you get hung up on any theory stuff, let me know, i might be able to help.

Thanks man. I actually already have a question!

So I know if the tonic chord is a major then the chords in that key follow the pattern:

I - major
ii - minor
iii - minor
IV - major
V - major
vi - minor
vii - diminished

How do you figure out the proper chords if your tonic chord is a minor chord? Do you have to look at the notes of the major scale for the tonic but swap in the minor note then work out each other other chord, or is there also a pattern that works for tonic minor chords? I hope that makes sense...

Also, when they list the chart, why are some roman numerals caps and others lower case? Is it just a cap when it's a major and lower case when it's not? Or is there something more significant about the I,IV,V that I'm missing?

Depending on exactly where you are at with the mechanics of different technical stuff, you just might have to suck it up and get through it. I remember there was a fairly long (felt like forever) period of just trying to make my fingers do **** when they refused to cooperate. It's repetitive boring exercises like practicing scales and chord changes that will get you through that.

Practice your scales and chord changes over a drum track - at least then it's not as boring.

Also make sure a bunch of your time is spent playing stuff you already know or learning how to play stuff you want to play. If it's not fun you won't keep at it.

You might also want to try a couple of in-person lessons with the purpose of building an effective practice routine.

Once you have the technical stuff down you have a huge advantage since you have a strong background in theory! Your background should help you transcribe stuff from recordings too.

they follow a pattern just like the major keys do. a minor is the easiest to figure this out since there are no sharps or flats, you get:
i ii(diminished) III iv v VI VII i

that will be the same for any natural minor key. yes, the roman numerals let you know what kind of chord it is. capitals are major chords, lower case are minor.
hope that answered it. if not let me know.

that is what i am using rocksmith for. most of my practice on it is done on the 'games' of scales and chords. they also have a 'session' mode where as you play a band plays behind you, so i do use that to keep it interesting.
just recently hit one of those walls where i don't feel like i am improving much, but know those happen and will get through it. thanks mang.

Perfect - thanks!

Here is a playlist of full length lessons from a youtube channel that you might want to check out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...TDVU8mlvOeQJK6

A lot of them are "play along" style lessons.

Some of them are very basic and some a little more involved, but even the basic ones usually have something of interest to me. Nick has a weird sense of humor, but I think he's pretty funny and I like his lessons.

He has a bunch of other interesting lessons on his channel besides these full length ones.

sweet. will check them out. thanks mang

Another kinda sorta theory question for you...

I'm learning Creep by Radiohead in order to practice my E shaped barre chords, so I decided to look at the theory stuff I've been reviewing and it doesn't make sense. Song keeps resolving to G major, so I think it's in G. But the progression goes G major, B major, C major, C minor.

If I did my theory worksheet properly G major key should go:

G maj
A min
B min
C maj
D maj
E min
F# dim

So the B major and the C minor chords in the progression don't make sense if it's in the key of G major. Thoughts?

they def don't. they could be just using non key chord tones for effect or dissonance so that it keeps it interesting. will look into in more though.

just briefly looking at it, they really just changed one note to accomplish both of those non key chords. they raised 5th or lowered 6th are the same note d#/eb.

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/theor...-question.html

this has some good discussion about what might be happening in that song. hope it helps.

I think I get what you're saying... When you say raised 5th or lowered 6th you're talking about the G maj scale.

I was looking at it like:

- B maj instead of min means playing the major 3rd instead of the minor 3rd (in terms of the B maj triad)

- C min instead of C maj means playing the minor 3rd instead of the major 3rd (in terms of the C maj triad)

I see how they're both the same note now that you point it out, and also how they relate to the G major scale. But not really sure why it makes sense musically...

Thanks I'll check it out.

the good thing is you realized it. i did the same thing until i thought about it and realized they were the same note.
the crazy thing about 'making sense musically', is, that a lot of music doesn't. composers/performers will change the rules on whim to make the music interesting. i am sure that is what they did here. just changed or borrowed a note from a different key to keep the listening ears interested. makes analyzing it fun though.

also, i think i have come to realize that playing scales or trying to change chords are my lot with guitar since i can't even seem to play really easy music/songs. ahh well, i will keep playing scale racer and star chords on rocksmith and think about a few irl lessons from someone.

So you've started and stopped several times over the past couple of years, correct? Just up thread you mention getting rocksmith about a month ago, and then a few weeks later you mention that this is the longest you've stuck with it out of the several times you've tried to pick it up. Are you only going at it for a month or so each time before putting the guitar down for long periods? (This paragraph sounds way more accusatory than it's meant to! Just trying to understand how you've gone about it so I can make helpful recommendations.)

If you're just playing for a month or so before giving up, then you just need to stick it out longer to see dividends. If you've played for longer periods, then I think it's probably time to change up your routine to try and get better results.

If you have some open chords down, you should be able to start working on easier songs. This will also serve the purpose of practicing the chords, so don't feel like it's somehow avoiding practice time. And learning songs will force you to change into chords from different chords, so they all eventually become more ingrained.

Try the verse to Yer So Bad for a while. It's just Am, D, G. At first forget about the strumming pattern. Just put a metranome on real slow, sing the words, and make the chord changes on time.

Like this...

(Am)Help

(Am)

My (Am)Sister got

(D)Lucky, she

(G)married a

(Am)yuppy she

(Am)took him for

(D)all he was

(G)worth

(G)

(Am)Now she's a

(D)swinger

(G)dating a

(Am)singer and

(Am)I can't de

(D)cide which is

(G)worse

(G)


etc.... After you can make the changes on time then work on the strumming patterns.

Also find an easy "lead" so you start working on melody instead of just scales. Something like the beginning lead part to Like a Hurricane.


I really think a few lessons with the right instructor will help you a lot. Research though! I would look for an instructor that also helps his students jam together by facilitating jam sessions and group lessons and stuff like that. After you have the basics down, you will improve the fastest by playing with other people, even when you think you're not good enough to do it.

Don't give up! You have a huge advantage with your background you just need to get to the point where you can leverage it.

not accusatory at all. yeah, i have played for about a month or so at a time several times before getting frustrated and giving up. it is a tough spot to be a beginner phisically on the guitar but have a strong musical knowledge (even if it isn't guitar).
as far as changing routines, that is one of the problems. i am not sure of really what i should be practicing besides scales and chords and fumbling through songs, so there is no direction and i am not sure how to give myself some.
i really feel like a few irl lessons (we have a really good music school here in town) would help put me on a path that has a bit of direction so i know what i should be doing.
i appreciate the help and encouragement. i am not giving up yet, just at a plateau in learning i think.

When I first started all I played for months was the signature riffs of Smoke on the Water and Iron Man. Despite your musical knowledge, there is no way around training your fingers for the gymnastics and dexterity required to play guitar except to put in countless hours of practice.

Go for the lessons man. I wish I had done that back in the day. We (me and my friends) used to tell ourselves crap like, "Jimmy Hendrix never had a lesson," and it was kind of a source of pride not to take lessons. We were apparently very dumb.

Ugh, that's one of the biggest setbacks for so many people.

Yes, Buddy Rich never warmed up, but he was good despite that poor habit, not because of it.

that is what i am trying to do to learn the dexterity of it. just doesn't seem i get anywhere. will def keep it up. thanks

not immediately familiar with either of those songs, but will look them up.

hey, i can almost keep up with the youtube of that tom petty song. thanks.
doing it with a strumming pattern is a whole different story. heh.