[Kirk Lorange]

Here are some frequently asked questions about my book/DVD PlaneTalk that I have answered. Please feel free to ask more in this forum.

There are many testimonials here, and if you're a PlaneTalker wishing wish to add your own testimonial, you can do so here.

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Who is it for?

I wrote PlaneTalk for all those players who have a good understanding of the basics: they know the basic chord shapes, understand how barre chords work; players who can pick out a melody line and play scales; players who may have started to dabble in the art of improvisation ... players who want to be able to use the whole fretboard, not just the first few frets. Players who have 'hit the wall' and are looking for that next phase in their learning. Players who want to know what the 'trick' is.

So it's not for beginners?

No.

Is it about all the different scales and modes?

No. I have always seen scales as building blocks, not real music. I think it's essential to understand what scales are, how they differ, but I have never seen scales as being helpful to creating melody, to improvising, to navigating a melodic path through a chord progression, to understanding the way music imposes herself on a fretboard. To my mind, there is one very important scale to understand inside out, and that is the Major Scale. It is the source of all music.

So what's it about then?

It teaches a way of thinking about music and the guitar, a way of seeing the whole fretboard in context at all moments. Every piece of music is a series of moments, each ruled by the chord that is in play. If you can see that chord for what it really is--a selection of 3 or 4 notes (plus their duplicates and octaves) that are scattered the length of the fretboard--then you can literally 'see' the potential, the possibilities, whether chordal or melodic.

So it's like a fretboard map?

In a way. But it's not a static map of all the note names, it's dynamic, it keeps track of the numbers of all the notes, which is much more informative.

That sounds very complicated and mathematical.

Music, especially when played on a guitar, is not easy to understand, anyone starting out can vouch for that. The way guitars are tuned (with that kink where the B string is tuned to the 4th fret of the G string instead of the 5th fret all the other strings use), coupled with the very asymmetric structure of Music, precludes any repetitive pattern you can follow on the fretboard. But there is a very simple, uncomplicated way of decoding it all, one that solves everything at once.

What is it?

It's a simple visualization technique, which, by the way, has nothing to do with remembering movie stars names or any other silly game. It is something that is pure music.

What do you visualize?

You need to buy the book for the answer to that ...

Why the comic strip?

I have found over the many years of passing this on to my fellow twangers that the easiest way of explaining it is in conversation rather than listing cold hard facts. I have the student in the book ask all the 'right' questions for me to pass this knowledge on; you get to listen in. It is in fact this user friendly format that really makes PlaneTalk unique. In the end, there is only one system called 'Music' and one fretboard layout ... but, there are many ways to explain how it all works. PlaneTalk uses plain English, some powerful analogies, some simple graphics and the Slide Rule.

What is the Slide Rule all about?

The Slide Rule displays, at a glance, what the book teaches. It shows you how to set your brain to the right wavelength. It also reveals exactly how the guitar works, how music lays herself out in standard tuning.

Is the DVD the same thing?

No, the DVD actually shows you in real time and real playing how the PlaneTalk mindset can set your playing free, how the simple visualization can lead you to play anything, anywhere on the neck, with the confidence of knowing it's going to be right. So what the book/slide rule teach, the DVD demonstrates.

Is this the CAGED system?

No. It is one layer deeper than CAGED. It makes seeing the CAGED template dead easy, and adds detail. I still haven't read the Fretboard Logic book, so I can't compare, but Nick Torres from Guitarnoise.com says in his review that it makes the CAGED system look like brain surgery by comparison.

So what will I gain from reading PlaneTalk.

First of all, you will be reminded of the basics of music theory. You will be shown why and how chords really rule the roost, and then how to see them for what they are (neck-long structures) and how to find them instantly. You will learn how to use all of the bits and pieces, how to turn them into melody, other voicings, harmony lines ... whatever. How to use the entire fretboard. You will also learn about 'hearing' music and knowing what it is without even playing anything ... recognizing by ear the chord changes and knowing why they are what they are.

What goes on in the PlaneTalkers Forum?

Plenty!! It's a very active forum (many members here are also members of the PTF). We leave no stone unturned where it comes to finding your way around the fretboard and making music. We upload examples of playing along to backing tracks, give and take constructive critisism, discuss the PlaneTalk mindset at length and generally feel very chuffed about knowing 'The Trick'. There are many lessons there as well, some of the more elaborate movie lessons cost a few dollars, but there have been no complaints.

How long would it take me to gain fretboard freedom, as you put it?

Like all aspects of learning a musical instrument, time and practice are the main ingredients to progressing, however knowing WHAT to work on is the most important thing. I can guarantee that once you fully digest the lesson that PlaneTalk teaches, you will never again wonder what to practice. Many have told me that when they bought PlaneTalk, they bought their last 'How to play guitar' book.

Where can I find out more? - Here.

Where do I order? - Here!

[coldethyl]

Thanks for sharing that Kirk. As soon as I am able, I will definitely get Plane Talk!

Going from the info you provide, Plane Talk to me is like a language translator. Briefly put, it's like if you were to go to a country where you had a minimal understanding of the language, this translator (aka Plane Talk) would help you work out the more intricate phrases and words of that language.

Forgive me if I am way off target here Kirk, but that's kind of how I see Plane Talk.

Neil

[Kirk Lorange]

That's not a bad analogy, Neil, not bad at all. It's that and much more than that.

[anthony knight]

yeah lovely, youve deffo sold me

[Pete81t]

I finally had my parents order me book yesterday...I couldn't be more excited for its arrival. Is there anything I could do in the meantime...for example, is the forum open to members only after they receive the book?

[Kirk Lorange]

Hey Pete ... I'm right in the middle of sending out today's orders, yours included.

Sure, you can go and join the PT forum, but it's probably better if you wait to get the book and read through it a few times ... otherwise you'll be wondering what the heck we're talking about in there.

Thanks for the order!

[Pete81t]

I have just one more question, and I wonder if I'm the only one whose pondered this: does learning the Planetalk "trick" mean that everything else one has learned is..."scrapped", for lack of a better term. For example, I've learned and mastered the Blues Scale and Minor Scale, which I ALWAYS use in improvisaiton....I know all the positions, intervals, notes, etc. of the scale, for whatever key. Does learning the visualization techinique in Planetalk add or take away from what one has previously learned?

[Pete81t]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Hey Pete ... I'm right in the middle of sending out today's orders, yours included.

Sure, you can go and join the PT forum, but it's probably better if you wait to get the book and read through it a few times ... otherwise you'll be wondering what the heck we're talking about in there.

Thanks for the order!

Excellent, that's wonderful news. I'm terribly excited for the book. Maybe you can answer my follow up question, Kirk, on whether or not Planetalk contributes or takes away from what someone has previously learned, i.e., scales.

[Kirk Lorange]

No need to scrap anything, Pete. PT will give you a new backdrop against which you can 'see' what you already know in a new light. It will also (hopefully) allow you to simplify your perception of how it all hangs together and you may well eventually stop thinking along the lines that you are now, but there's no need to scrap anything.

[allthumbs]

I will give you my 2 cents worth while your waiting for Kirks' reply. The more you know the better so you don't throw away what you have learned. Everything you have mentioned will be absorbed into what you are about to learn. The muscle memory you have developed to play scales may take a while to unlearn. For instance instead of thinking of the 6 notes in the blues scale, you will see all twelve notes as potential playable notes. Sometime it takes a while to adjust from playing in a straight path to being able to have the freeedom of going in any direction you choose. You will understand how your scales work and where they don't and why. P.T. is all about the freedom of choice that comes with knowing the fretboard and all the ways to play over it. You can keep your scales, let them become absorbed into P.T. or never think scales and modes again. the choice is yours.

[Pete81t]

Oh, I see. That's what I was hoping for, that Planetalk would put what I already know into new light. The reason I asked this question is because I too have developed a way of seeing music on the fretboard, which has become clearer and clearer. It started with learning the pentatonic scale, how those five notes lay out all over the fretboard. Then it became clear that those five notes were just seven from the major scale, that by adding in those two notes to the pentatonic minor made it a plain old minor scale. Then it hit me...the minor scale is just the major scale starting on a different note, so it was really one scale to begin with, repeating itself all over the fretboard. So now, I no longer think pentatonic this or that, or blues, or minor.....I just think of that one universal scale and know where every note is on the fretboard. Its worked for me, so I hope not to lose what I already know, but instead to see it in new light, maybe seeing the bigger picture with what I already know as a small link in a giant chain. What I don't want to happen is to lose my sound and style.

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by Pete81t

Oh, I see. That's what I was hoping for, that Planetalk would put what I already know into new light. The reason I asked this question is because I too have developed a way of seeing music on the fretboard, which has become clearer and clearer. It started with learning the pentatonic scale, how those five notes lay out all over the fretboard. Then it became clear that those five notes were just seven from the major scale, that by adding in those two notes to the pentatonic minor made it a plain old minor scale. Then it hit me...the minor scale is just the major scale starting on a different note, so it was really one scale to begin with, repeating itself all over the fretboard. So now, I no longer think pentatonic this or that, or blues, or minor.....I just think of that one universal scale and know where every note is on the fretboard. Its worked for me, so I hope not to lose what I already know, but instead to see it in new light, maybe seeing the bigger picture with what I already know as a small link in a giant chain. What I don't want to happen is to lose my sound and style.

Sounds like P.T. is going to be a perfect fit with what you already know.

[slejhamer]

I know you can't control the mail system, but what is the estimated shipping time to the US for the book + DVD? How soon after someone places an order is the material shipped? Thanks.

[Kirk Lorange]

It usually goes out the same day it's ordered, slej, and it takes between a week and 10 days to reach the US, soemtimes even less.

[Chaotic Kittie]

I'm about to order PT, is there any guarantee that Kirk himself won't pop up from the package?