15 minute a day practice routines

FarleyUK

Hi all,

I've been feeling really 'stuck in a rut' with my playing lately; I seemt o always be playing the same positions and scales etc. when soloing, and want to break out of this.

To help, I'm going to be taking 15 mins each day to run through techniques and practice things to assist me - however, I have no idea where to start....!

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? 

octatonic

Can you harmonise the major scale?

FarleyUK

Do what with the what?

I know the Major scale, but not sure what 'harmonising' it means exactly (which is another area I'm trying to brush up on!).

octatonic

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

menamestom

Something like the Guitar Gym app is good for a 15 min a day routine.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/david-mead-guitar-gym/id566521979?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

FarleyUK

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

Great, thanks

Yeah, I can play the minor and major oentatonics in the 5 positions - been a while since I transcribed a solo though!

octatonic

I transcribe daily.

It makes all the difference.

cacophony

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

i have absolutely no idea what any of those mean!!

octatonic

cacophony said:

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

i have absolutely no idea what any of those mean!!

Do you want to?

BigLicks67

cacophony said:

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

i have absolutely no idea what any of those mean!!

I'd assume it means creating a chord scale out of say C major, for example :

Cmaj7 - Dmin7- Emin7-Fmaj7-G7-Amin7-Bm7b5-Cmaj7

so all the chords remain diatonically within the C major scale, you could also simplify it by just using triads.

Rocker

@octatonic, can you explain (please give a simple example) transcribing. TBH I don't quite understand the word. Thanks.

octatonic

Rocker said:

@octatonic, can you explain (please give a simple example) transcribing. TBH I don't quite understand the word. Thanks.

The full process of transcribing is to work out what someone else is playing and then write it down on paper.

Many people use the term to refer to just copping licks.

I'm firmly of the belief that the process of writing it down informs your playing in a way that just copping the licks does not- because you can analyse what is being done and then you can find ways of reapplying it in different contexts.

Also, writing it down means you can bring the paper with you and do the analysis in situations where you cannot play- when I was commuting that was my musical analysis time- I'd sit on the bus/train with a page of staff paper and reharmonise whatever I was working on.

cacophony

octatonic said:

cacophony said:

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

i have absolutely no idea what any of those mean!!

Do you want to?

to be perfectly frank, no!. i know which bits of the fretboard has the notes i use, and where they are. if you've noodled for long enough, (in my case a couple of years) . can `hear` a note in your head, then pick up the guitar and `hit` that note pretty much every time, then i don`t see any value in learning scales, `circles` etc etc. i started out learning all that theory,found it hard work, then a `penny dropped` . it`s pretty much a plank with strings tensioned across it. those resultant notes are in exactly the same location for me as they are for someone who has memorised all the scales/circles of fifths etc etc in the world. in the end you still have to memorise where they are...

i guess some people respond to and can take on board the value of all the formal systems etc, and other mind sets, just can`t, the latter one is where i am.

octatonic

cacophony said:

octatonic said:

cacophony said:

octatonic said:

That is where to start then.

Harmonising the major scale.

Modes of the major scale.

Scale patterns in the first 3 keys either side of the circle of 5th's.

Also, can you play the minor and major pentatonics in all 5 positions?

Also, when was the last time you transcribed a solo from a recording?

i have absolutely no idea what any of those mean!!

Do you want to?

to be perfectly frank, no!. i know which bits of the fretboard has the notes i use, and where they are. if you've noodled for long enough, (in my case a couple of years) . can `hear` a note in your head, then pick up the guitar and `hit` that note pretty much every time, then i don`t see any value in learning scales, `circles` etc etc. i started out learning all that theory,found it hard work, then a `penny dropped` . it`s pretty much a plank with strings tensioned across it. those resultant notes are in exactly the same location for me as they are for someone who has memorised all the scales/circles of fifths etc etc in the world. in the end you still have to memorise where they are...

i guess some people respond to and can take on board the value of all the formal systems etc, and other mind sets, just can`t, the latter one is where i am.

Depends on what you are trying to achieve, I guess.

I'd like to see someone play jazz without understanding the circle of 5ths or the major scale and its modes.

Many people that say what you are saying are simply justifying laziness- there have been a bunch of threads on the topic on this forum.

I'm not saying you are doing this (really, I'm not) but also I'd be interested in seeing how far you're able to take your playing not understanding the rules of harmony, the major scale, how modes work, what an avoid notes is when playing a I IV V etc...

Catthan

worth noting that after you get all scales or whatever else down, you need to figure out what to do with them.

work on creating your own melodies

work out what fingerings work on what melodies - motifs - licks at diff. areas of the neck

get some understanding of the harmonic context of the material you'll be working with

exercise above in diff. scenarios (diff. songs, keys, rhythms etc)

The material @octatonic mentioned is very important but it is also a means to an end, not an end in itself. 

Playing all scales everywhere on the neck with every fingering combination possible will certainly inform your musical identity but will not get you further than being really good at playing scales unless you take the time to work on application. 

And, yes, transcribe a lot!

cacophony

"I'm not saying you are doing this (really, I'm not) but also I'd be interested in seeing how far you're able to take your playing not understanding the rules of harmony, the major scale, how modes work, what an avoid notes is when playing a I IV V etc..."

atm, as i said i`ve only been learning for a couple of years, slightly under two years actually, but i think i`m making pretty good progress if i`m honest. a serious question, do you think how `musical` your mind is plays any part?. i do, what i mean by that is, some people just do not have a tuneful bone in their body, my wife is one!. you could play her the guitar part from songs that she likes and she can`t identify them, my daughters are amazed at her tone deafness. others have very good pitch `awareness` and can pick up stuff quickly. i think i `lean` toward the latter, not gifted or anysuch thing!,but have a natural ability to hear what`s "right" and what`s not (imo obviously!).

this sounds like i`m being slightly full of myself here, i`m really not. there`s loads of other stuff i am totally shite at!, but musically i can `get it`. (i was the only person at the time who could hear amongst my then work-colleagues that the lead singer on `the story of the blues` by the mighty wah was as flat as a witches tit!. something i read in a paper years later being highlighted by some professor of composition somewhere.)

to sum up. we all have different abilities and ways of problem solving. there`s no panacea , unfortunately.

EricTheWeary

My son likes to learn bass stuff off YouTube videos. He picks it up really quickly and the house resonates to the sound of Royal Blood. But because he doesn't want to take on any music theory - because he can do all that stuff without it - he has no tools for communicating with other musicians. To get through a blues jam or play an AC-DC cover or whatever it's really hard without some basic theory. Even if you can communicate with other guitarists it's no good saying second string fourth fret to a keyboardist.

Anyway, my idea of 15 minutes a day is just about warm my fingers up. However, on a good week I will have learned something and that finger warm up will be spent reinforcing it so I've got good muscle memory of that thing by the end of the week. I'm not claiming much by this but it is quite nice to have learned something during an otherwise busy week.

octatonic

cacophony said:

"I'm not saying you are doing this (really, I'm not) but also I'd be interested in seeing how far you're able to take your playing not understanding the rules of harmony, the major scale, how modes work, what an avoid notes is when playing a I IV V etc..."

atm, as i said i`ve only been learning for a couple of years, slightly under two years actually, but i think i`m making pretty good progress if i`m honest. a serious question, do you think how `musical` your mind is plays any part?. i do, what i mean by that is, some people just do not have a tuneful bone in their body, my wife is one!. you could play her the guitar part from songs that she likes and she can`t identify them, my daughters are amazed at her tone deafness. others have very good pitch `awareness` and can pick up stuff quickly. i think i `lean` toward the latter, not gifted or anysuch thing!,but have a natural ability to hear what`s "right" and what`s not (imo obviously!).

this sounds like i`m being slightly full of myself here, i`m really not. there`s loads of other stuff i am totally shite at!, but musically i can `get it`. (i was the only person at the time who could hear amongst my then work-colleagues that the lead singer on `the story of the blues` by the mighty wah was as flat as a witches tit!. something i read in a paper years later being highlighted by some professor of composition somewhere.)

to sum up. we all have different abilities and ways of problem solving. there`s no panacea , unfortunately.

The idea that someone isn't musical is more to do with a lack of training- it isn't an innate thing.

I've had students that have said 'I am tone deaf' or 'I can't learn' when all it really comes down to is providing them with an approach they can adopt that allows them to learn.

People do learn at different rates though- and people stumble over different things- this doesn't mean they aren't suited to X process, it just means they might need to approach it more methodically.

If you can learn to speak/read you can learn to play if you follow the established method- that method is by studying music that has come before- and to learn that you need to learn music theory.

You might be able to work it out for yourself but that is usually an inefficient way to do it.

Side note- Alan Holdsworth did it this way- he doesn't read music and doesn't use the same terms that most people do- he figured it out all by himself and invented his own language. Holdsworth is also a bit of a genius though- most folks can't do this and don't do this.

The rate of progress is directly related to how much work you put in- there are ways of being more efficient about it which I can go into if people are interested and a lot of folks end up in a rut because they stop learning new stuff and only end up reinforcing things they have already learned. 

If it helps, when I was first a music student (in the early to mid 80's) I also thought I didn't need theory, that I thought differently and would be best learning everything my own way.

Over time I delved into music theory and found it was the best approach to take- for more than 25 years now I've been studying music- once you get past the initial stages of it being awkward it is just like any other language.

The thing about learning music theory is it is efficient.

You can progress much quicker than you would if you are trying to figure it out for yourself.

Whether you want to is a different matter- I, personally, have no issue with people who want to play a musical instrument but don't want to put in the time- and it does take time.

Music isn't a race and I'm not being competitive about it- however when we assert our positions in this argument it has to be taken in the context of 'yeah, but can you actually play'?

I know I can drop into most musical situations and do a decent job of it, some genres definitely more than others.

I'm not especially talented (I've always taken a fair while to learn new stuff) but I've spent a lot of time dissecting and learning various styles of music and tried to progress musically by learning (and eventually teaching) what others have done before me.

I've not met many musicians in the last 25 odd years who are musically illiterate who can do this.

I'm pretty confident that, if you went and tried to drop in at a jazz jam, or even a decent blues jam and try to play the changes that you'd re-evaluate your position.

Or maybe you are an amazing player and you've found a way to work it out without having to go through the process the rest of us have- if this is the case then I'd like to hear your music.

carlos

I recently quit my band because I was the only one there with theory knowledge*. It made rehearsals and new material really difficult to work through as we couldn't communicate with each other.

cacophony

"Or maybe you are an amazing player and you've found a way to work it out without having to go through the process the rest of us have- if this is the case then I'd like to hear your music"

 i`m far from amazing, i`ve owned a guitar for less than 2 years!. maybe i`m not articulating my reasons well, as to why i think that people spend hundreds of hours learning theory that in many cases they will probably never use again quite simply because "it`s the thing you do".to me it seems a little like when you learn to drive, having to slavishly learn `stopping distances` that once you drive you know instinctively by eye without having to recite "70 feet at xx mph" . anyway, to each their own as they say.

octatonic

cacophony said:

"Or maybe you are an amazing player and you've found a way to work it out without having to go through the process the rest of us have- if this is the case then I'd like to hear your music"

 i`m far from amazing, i`ve owned a guitar for less than 2 years!. maybe i`m not articulating my reasons well, as to why i think that people spend hundreds of hours learning theory that in many cases they will probably never use again quite simply because "it`s the thing you do".to me it seems a little like when you learn to drive, having to slavishly learn `stopping distances` that once you drive you know instinctively by eye without having to recite "70 feet at xx mph" . anyway, to each their own as they say.

It is nothing like that.

"Hundreds of hours of theory they won't use again"?

You use it every time you pick up the guitar- why would you go to all the trouble of learning it if you didn't use it?

Imagine you were talking about learning a foreign language.

Is there any point learning italian if you want to converse with Italians?

Yeah, kinda.

carlos said:

I recently quit my band because I was the only one there with theory knowledge*. It made rehearsals and new material really difficult to work through as we couldn't communicate with each other.

I've never left a band because the other people don't have musical training but I've been frustrated in more than a few.

I don't do it these days- there has to be a minimum level of understanding otherwise it is like herding cats.