Advice on learning progression and what to do 'next'

topdog91

MrDazzle said:

If it's any help, I asked the teacher what they've got to do with Gospel and he didn't know.

I'd definitely heard them before too when he showed me.  That seems to happen a lot, he tells me about a concept and then shows me whereupon I just go "oh right, like that bit in XXX".  I bet loads of the stuff he's teaching is stuff many people know by a different name, or perhaps no name at all.  "It's just that thing where you do this....*plays little lick*"

Yeah, tell him you asked on tFB and we said they're not a thing.

MrDazzle

I actually googled them as soon as I got home because I was curious where the name came from.

Deffo a thing.

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/blues-gospel-slide-chords-bl-207

BTW I didn't know what a BB King box was, but as soon as he showed me Peter Greens opening solo to Need your love so bad I knew what he meant.

CaseOfAce

MrDazzle said:

I actually googled them as soon as I got home because I was curious where the name came from.

Deffo a thing.

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/blues-gospel-slide-chords-bl-207

BTW I didn't know what a BB King box was, but as soon as he showed me Peter Greens opening solo to Need your love so bad I knew what he meant.

oh it's that.. Yeah I know what you mean now.
It's the Steely Dan / Chain Lightning thing.

I've seen Robben Ford do a similiar thing. 
Well - that's clears that up! 

The BB King box thing is the "shape" that he uses to play over a 12 bar and outline the changes solely in that position using the notes and bends right? Instantly recognisable when you hear it.

MrDazzle

CaseOfAce said:

The BB King box thing is the "shape" that he uses to play over a 12 bar and outline the changes solely in that position using the notes and bends right? Instantly recognisable when you hear it.

Yeah it's this.

My teacher has cottoned on to the fact I tend to pick this things up best when they're contextualised in a song I know.  So for this Need Your Love So Bad is perfect, 'cause I can just hear that tune in my head.

In fact just by chance this little pic is the box in A innit, which is where you use it for said song.

I am at the point now where I can play that actual song fairly reliably, so now when I go to the little acoustic meet up I'm given the task of improving a solo using this box, but in some other key.  Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly adventurous I'll stray off into the convenient minor pentatonic scale next door.

HAL9000

Going back to the blues jam thing… If you know your major and minor pentatonics and the BB box then I can almost guarantee that you have more knowledge than half of the players there. Ok, knowledge isn’t the same as stringing a solo together but you’ve certainly got all the building blocks already. Like I said before, go along and watch what goes on. Nothing ventured and all that…

CarpeDiem

I would suggest joining a band if your aim is to play to an audience. You should learn a lot from playing with others (not just theory, but timing and musicality) and have fun in the process.

Learn a number of songs and, providing they don’t include iconic solos that an audience expects to be close to the recording, then attempt improvising. If you hit a duff note, make sure you end on a correct sounding note. It’s easy to get too hung up on the theory, and not focus on things like phrasing, bending notes, etc. 

Roland

CarpeDiem said:

I would suggest joining a band ... 

I’ve been watching this thread wondering how I could politely say JDI. Playing with other people you quickly realise that your musical knowledge and playing abilities are perfectly adequate for the job in hand. You just need to do it. 

Vintage65

stickyfiddle said:

Vintage65 said:

This is an interesting way of doing things, although it does sound a bit like walking on a tightrope without a safety net! I've been influenced by formal art classes where you first sketch your subject, and then prepare a colour palette in advance before you start painting. It does seem like something I should look into though, albeit somewhat daunting.

Yep… 

Thing is I do understand a lot of theory and academic stuff, I’m just not thinking about it when I’m playing.

One interesting example I was once told was how kids learn vs adults. Kids don’t worry about theoretical stuff in any way shape or form - they just jump in and do stuff - and they’re usually far quicker at learning than adults, at least in the early stages. Whereas adults want to spend loads of time on understanding the “why” before they nervously start doing anything, and are often terrified of doing anything for fear of failure

Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t sketch out roughly the broad strokes of what you want to do in advance. But you’re never more than a semitone away from an in-key note, so the jeopardy is pretty low  

I do have a cheat sheet app on my tablet, but I suppose that's cheating 

https://i.ibb.co/s1PPqx6/Screenshot.jpg

MrDazzle

My attitude to theory is more curiosity that anything else TBH.

I don't think it's necessary to know it all, but there's always the old cliché "no one ever became a worse player by learning some theory".

But from my POV I just enjoy knowing why things work.  It's the same for everything in my life not just music, I just like knowing thy WHY of everything.

Roland

Vintage65 said:

I do have a cheat sheet app on my tablet, but I suppose that's cheating 

Yep, it’s a useful step, but if you rely on it then you’re short changing yourself. If you are a visual learner then you need to be able to see the pattern in your mind when you look at the fretboard. With practice your fingers will get to know their positions without looking.

Vintage65

MrDazzle said:

My attitude to theory is more curiosity that anything else TBH.

I don't think it's necessary to know it all, but there's always the old cliché "no one ever became a worse player by learning some theory".

But from my POV I just enjoy knowing why things work.  It's the same for everything in my life not just music, I just like knowing thy WHY of everything.

Scaler is like a real-time music theory encyclopaedia and it's getting quite smart, and it's also fun to play around with. Once you have settled on some chords and melody notes, you can move over to your favourite instruments and start working on an arrangement. You can find it at Plugin Boutique for £35 if you ever need to expand on your theoretical knowledge.

ToneControl

Vintage65 said:

MrDazzle said:

My attitude to theory is more curiosity that anything else TBH.

I don't think it's necessary to know it all, but there's always the old cliché "no one ever became a worse player by learning some theory".

But from my POV I just enjoy knowing why things work.  It's the same for everything in my life not just music, I just like knowing thy WHY of everything.

Scaler is like a real-time music theory encyclopaedia and it's getting quite smart, and it's also fun to play around with. Once you have settled on some chords and melody notes, you can move over to your favourite instruments and start working on an arrangement. You can find it at Plugin Boutique for £35 if you ever need to expand on your theoretical knowledge.

I just found Scaler 2 for £29 on their site, they also offer a bundle with 3 courses on how to use it and some other stuff for £59 all in.

I cam back to theFB to search for opinions on it, and found your post

Do you think it's worth paying for the extra coursess?
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/81-Bundles/39-Effects-Bundles/6449-Scaler-2-Advanced-Bundle

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/3-Studio-Tools/93-Music-Theory-Tools/6439-Scaler-2?_gl=1*1kyrgem*_up*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsc24BhDPARIsAFXqAB2d5n6oAMoCwyXWJIIbr6Q64rc_1M469_lsxX48KZP1FszvMb-7YTgaAozFEALw_wcB