[jimmyzowens]

im sorry to sound stupid but i am having a ton of trouble , i cant grasp the mumbo jumbo about chord structure, tonic ,triads, minor third and major third ,major inversion , minor inversion, augmeneted , tonal center , blah blah blah blah , i just wanna frikien play if i see visual i can get it
ive been practicing my scales major and natural minor , but its so tough to understand the structure i cant visualize it or understand it , to many names and meanings. i am in the middle of (playpro interactive guitar

[allthumbs]

Take it small bits at a time. Chords are pretty easy to build once you have grasped their basic building blocks.

[AX7221]

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

im sorry to sound stupid but i am having a ton of trouble , i cant grasp the mumbo jumbo about chord structure, tonic ,triads, minor third and major third ,major inversion , minor inversion, augmeneted , tonal center , blah blah blah blah , i just wanna frikien play if i see visual i can get it
ive been practicing my scales major and natural minor , but its so tough to understand the structure i cant visualize it or understand it , to many names and meanings. i am in the middle of (playpro interactive guitar

If I were you I'd stop practing your major and minor scales. I think you're on the path to stopping. It sounds like you're going over time on scales and stuff to get it over with so once you can play every major/minor scale you will be all set. However that's too boring.

There are different approaches to using music theory (ideally I trying to learn all of the approaches on at a time b/c they all come together). Like you brought up triads which are the basis for improvising in 1 approach. Then scales are the basis for improvision in another approach. Then termonology like tonic and stuff is very useful for making backing tracks or rhythm tracks (but like I said these all fuse into 1 when very good).

So, just learn music theory you can apply NOW. If you learn everything on one aspect so when you need you know it (from what I've seen and done) is going down the path to stopping. So the way I'm going is I've learned the A minor/C major relative chords and scale (I also know the G major/E minor relative chords). I'm now learning chord tones using the PT method, then after that I'll learn the E minor/G major scale. (also PT teaches triads). So basically I'm just learning the music theory I can use now (I'm not learning the E flat scale and B scale and so on), and taking it piece by piece that I can apply now based on how I like do play.

So the question is, what do you like to play? Do you like just playing around with different chords? Do you like jaming? Do you like writing riffs? To learn everything in your above post is just too much to do all at once, so I need to get a feel for you style/what not to recommend a specific one, or go into myself.

[jimmyzowens]

well your post makes me feel better , but there is no way im going to quit guitar i am learning and exploring new things every day , i think i learn more just teaching my self with a little info here and there , its just getting frustrating because my skill is progressing faster than my knowledge and know how, ( if that makes any frikn sense lol:>. i love to play rythem guitar like ccr tracks jimmi hendrix , and neil young you know all the old classic 4 to five chord rythem songs. but my problem is over coming only having half an index finger on my fret hand so barr chords are tough and basically any chord requireing 4 fingers some of them i can do if they are to the bottom of the fret board. so i am starting to lean twords like fingering style , you know blues is really a huge influence on me as well so slide would be cool to , but in order to move all around the neck like that type of playing reqiures you have to know all that stuff that i was refering to in my last post , so i dont know man im just having fun right now with my new les paul so its all good at this time . anyway thanks for readins this long post lol

[AX7221]

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

i think i learn more just teaching my self with a little info here and there

As i was reading your post i was thinking i could very well have been the person who typed it in, lol. I think that's the best way to go, that's the way that I did and contiue to do it.

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

its just getting frustrating because my skill is progressing faster than my knowledge and know how

That makes sense, just keep in mind the distinction b/w learning something and learning the termonology for it.

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

but my problem is over coming only having half an index finger on my fret hand so barr chords are tough

If you can manage to play barre chords like your avatar you wouldn't need to bar. It's always tough to explain some things with text so this youtube link which is about how to play "Hey Joe" goes into how hendix did it with his thumb (I can't do though because the reach is too difficult).

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

slide would be cool to

I have my slide in my drawer on my to do list, when I do try to learn it I only play it with a backing track so I can hear if I'm flat or sharp (just a thought since I haven't done much with it)

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

but in order to move all around the neck like that type of playing reqiures you have to know all that stuff that i was refering to in my last post

I disagree on one level. Right now I know the A minor/C Major scale, on say the 12th-15th fret then on the b and high E strings I know to the 19th fret. I can't play the E minor/G Major scale at that point, but I can ply the E minr/G major scale at the 7th-10th fret. If I put more time into scales I can play the scale no matter which scale has the root. Technically I can tell you what the scale is no matter which string has the root, but I would have think about it, so I wouldnt be able to do it in real time. At some point I will put in the time but now I'm learning chord tones to suppliment my playing when the root is on either the E or D stings (or B but I'm more hazy there).

I'm using PT to learn chord tones, and the way PT is geared when I learn it I can easily go up and down the neck. Its a very good book and I reccomend you get it if you have the money. And if you're going to get it later I would instead get it now (because chord tones affect what you play, not just what scale you are in).

Originally Posted by jimmyzowens

so i dont know man im just having fun right now with my new les paul so its all good at this time . anyway thanks for readins this long post lol

I would reccomend learning a little bit on all fronts. When I was first learning chords and fingerstyle I would watch a game on t.v. and just keep plugging away. What I was playing did sound very good, and it would have been more musical (it was still a littel musical) if I wasn't watching a game, but it allowed me repeatedly pick with my fingers until I could successfully do it w/o being bothered by my rhythm getting messed up.

Intervals are so important with scales. I first learned what a fifth sounded like the what a major and minor third sounded like. I worked on anticipating when i wanted the sound of a fifth then played a fifth. Or I worked on antipating when I wanted any specific sound then play it. Modulating (w/o an understanding of names) is important. If you modulate from a minor key to a major key the fifth compared to the origional root will be a major 3rd compared to your new root. Just keeping that in mind will take away a lot of the head scrating invovled in learning what each interval sound like. Also chord tones will take away some of the head scratching too. Like before I knew what a chord tone was I knew what modulation was. While I would play in A minor sometimes the 2 (B) would sound good, sometimes not (also the 6, F). I thought that the notes I played before I played either B or F caused them to sound good or not. I spent a lot of time trying to find a pattern, and eventally playing a B or an F became a gamble and I started playing pentatonics. With an understanding of chord tones playing B or F (in Am) is no longer a gamble.

Then the Tonic and what not I haven't bothered to learn. Right now I'm playing around with the different chords for A minor/C major and E minor/Gmajor to learn what each of those terms mean. I'm finding its similar to the intervals of the scale when I solo with major/minor thrown in.

That's all I can think of, if the part about skill allowing you to do more than your knowledge does refers to any specific situations then any of those questions I can try to answer, or fretsource can answer.

[felixdcat]

Ok. Track 1-3-5 scale note in every chord. Practice them all around the neck. That's what I'm doing.

[Aunt Doty]

" if I see visual then I can get it"

I'm a visual learner also and have the same problem you do with all the technical music terminology.
As suggested above, you would probably benefit from PlaneTalk!

[jimmyzowens]

i keep hearing about this plane talk deal and am just wondering who here on this site has been through this program , and any testamonies that you guys might have besides the ones on the web site , you know people that i know and communicate with daily
i think it looks cool but im just wanting a little more info before i spill the 83 dollars on the program

[X4StringDrive]

JimmyZ, had my copy now for a couple of weeks and must say...best money I've ever spent towards bettering my playing. Kirk has a great way of explaining it in such simple terms and the DVD just brings it all together. I'm a n00b at guitar{less than a year} a few screwed up years trying to learn bass before that, and in just these few weeks after recieving Plane Talk, I've learned more about chord tones and the fretboard than I have in all my previous experience....My opinion is not to wait...you spend that much, just on a night out for a few with the friends. Just my thoughts

[AX7221]

It sounds like you're already farmiliar with scales and chords. The book starts out with stuff like major and minor triads and explians that there exist scales. It doesn't focus on scales instead its oriented around chord tones. Using the PT method scales are irrevent(?). If I'm playing over a chord progression of C, Am, G, Em, I wouldn't ever think of the minor scale, I would instead (just say during the C chord) think about what the notes are compared to C (the cord of the moment). I'll do that for each chord, so improvising over progressions that dont follow a common key is no problem.

The main benefit in my opinion is it gives me a way to learn chord tones. I can read about what a chord tone is, but it gives me a way to impliment that. I've never seen this (the key to jamming) anywhere, and I've seen the testamonials about PT where a very accomplished guitarist said he sort've knew it, but never really put it together. When ever I would talk to guitarists they said they do chord tones. So basically chord tones are a necessity to jamming your best, and I haven't seen this material any other place. So I'm anticipating if you get it (like me) every page turn won't be an eye opener (that was in a testamonial i read), but the way to impliment will be very, very useful

[felixdcat]

I'm trying to concentrate on that while waiting for PlaneTalk...

[Stratrat]

JimmyZ - check out the threads in the PlaneTalk forum, and also the "Testimonials" forum. A lot of us have bought it and are using it to learn from. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things and I certainly have no regrets about buying it. I'd highly recommend it, as has everybody else here who's purchased it.