What book / lessons etc... are you using at the start of this year...

CaseOfAce

I've got "Guitar Lessons Goldmine : 100 Jazz Lessons" on the go as my "soak up and practice whilst watching Netflix" routine at the moment.

I have a huge gap (to say the least) in my ability as regards jazz guitar and I'm hoping this can least allow me to blag a few lines / play over changes / extend my chord knowledge and ultimately fool a few people into thinking I'm a well rounded guitarist(!).

drofluf

Various: Mark Thomson’s “Traveller’s Tales” and Stuart Ryan’s “The Tradition” books. Should keep me busy for the year. 

Supportact

I'm doing the 'Justin Guitar' theory course online. I've never been that up on theory, but I'm finding this very practical and easy to follow. 

Also classical guitar grade 4 pieces book - I picked up the classical guitar again over lockdown having played electric/steel string exclusively for some years. Enjoyed getting back into it. I'm still not great at it but I think it's helping my technique for guitar generally.

Grade 4 & 5 scales/arpeggios book - using as warm up excercises, but also finding it ties in nicely with the theory course. 

Keefy

A lot of my practice time is focused on whatever gigs I have coming up next, so I am focused on learning songs rather than techniques. In between times I have just finished working my way through a couple of books of Beatles transcriptions and I'm about to start on some Rolling Stones books.

Supportact

Keefy said:

A lot of my practice time is focused on whatever gigs I have coming up next, so I am focused on learning songs rather than techniques. In between times I have just finished working my way through a couple of books of Beatles transcriptions and I'm about to start on some Rolling Stones books.

I bet you can learn a lot from the Beatles/Stones books, I find Beatles songs in particular have really interesting chord progressions. I was in the same situation as you (focussing mainly on learning/rehearsing songs specifically for gigs) but for various reasons (mainly covid) I haven't gigged for over a year now. It's a weird one because I do miss gigging, but on the other hand I've learned some new things I probably wouldn't have had time for before. Still hoping the gigs will come back this year though. 

CaseOfAce

Keefy said:

A lot of my practice time is focused on whatever gigs I have coming up next, so I am focused on learning songs rather than techniques. In between times I have just finished working my way through a couple of books of Beatles transcriptions and I'm about to start on some Rolling Stones books.

Absolutey - band material comes first - learning songs, structure, vocal / harmony parts.

It's nice when a song requires a certain technique to play it.
For instance - you can watch tonnes of Paul Gilbert vids about string skipping but there's no finer introduction to this technique then mastering the intro to Sweet Child of Mine.

mudslide73

I'm still going through Jeff McErlain's Pentatonic Deep Dive on Trufire. I've done the course about 3 times already but I keep coming back - some great bits on rudimentary connecting phrases and repeated patterns that I'd somehow missed in my beginner years. 

guitarjack66

CaseOfAce said:

I've got "Guitar Lessons Goldmine : 100 Jazz Lessons" on the go as my "soak up and practice whilst watching Netflix" routine at the moment.

I have a huge gap (to say the least) in my ability as regards jazz guitar and I'm hoping this can least allow me to blag a few lines / play over changes / extend my chord knowledge and ultimately fool a few people into thinking I'm a well rounded guitarist(!).

Probably a stupid question but how do Jazz chords differ from traditional popular music chords? Suspensions? Extended chords? Etc.
I only ask as the jazz sound is very interesting and has a unique sound.

CaseOfAce

guitarjack66 said:

CaseOfAce said:

I've got "Guitar Lessons Goldmine : 100 Jazz Lessons" on the go as my "soak up and practice whilst watching Netflix" routine at the moment.

I have a huge gap (to say the least) in my ability as regards jazz guitar and I'm hoping this can least allow me to blag a few lines / play over changes / extend my chord knowledge and ultimately fool a few people into thinking I'm a well rounded guitarist(!).

Probably a stupid question but how do Jazz chords differ from traditional popular music chords? Suspensions? Extended chords? Etc.
I only ask as the jazz sound is very interesting and has a unique sound.

Jazz tends to feature chords (and a lot more of 'em!) which include additional scale notes not usually found in the standard rock / blues vocabularly (which generally feature major minor, dominant 7th and sus 2 / 4 chords).

So you've got 9th, 11th, 13th and then altered chords with flat / sharp 5th, 9ths, diminished , augmented..etc..etc...

This is obviously a massive simplification but the short answer is more complicated harmony! 
Not that your average Stevie Wonder track doesn't feature "expensive" chords or for instance you'll find a 13th chord in a Led Zeppelin song (What Is and What Should Never Be).

Danny1969

I've leant more in the last 18 months than the previous 10 years thanks to covid and a bored session guitarist Tom Bukovac deciding to start guitar  lessons from his garage. 
These lessons assume you have been playing a while and know the basic stuff, like where the notes are and what intervals form chords etc. Not all his videos have teaching content, a lot of them are just him playing but for most of us even that is an education. That's all I need really, to see how an absolute master just grooves about on the guitar

His approach to everything is so inspiring. The chord voicing, the way he plays lead over bass notes. How he adds in drone notes. Everything he plays has so much soul in it and it's all just him in front of an Iphone. No edits to cover up mistakes, no stupid gimmicks. Highly recommended to anyone who isn't already a fan 

Blueingreen

Bukovac says in one of his earlier videos, and I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember his exact words, that as a musician you either have "it" or you don't, that he can tell almost instantaneously whether anyone has "it", and it can't be learned.

I think he slightly backtracks or tries to soften that stance later: there's a certain awkwardness if you're running a series of teaching videos and you believe that what really matters can't be taught. Nevertheless, I very strongly suspect that what he said was what he honestly believes.

I don't disagree with him but I think it raises some interesting questions about what can be taught and what can't (and in some cases what our musical goals should be).

viz

I’m going to continue going through all 600 classical albums that I bought off @historyisjunk, I’m cheating and calling that practice

DLM

@viz My take is that that counts, cause if it ain't gone in, it ain't gonna come out!

Danny1969

Blueingreen said:

Bukovac says in one of his earlier videos, and I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember his exact words, that as a musician you either have "it" or you don't, that he can tell almost instantaneously whether anyone has "it", and it can't be learned.

I think he slightly backtracks or tries to soften that stance later: there's a certain awkwardness if you're running a series of teaching videos and you believe that what really matters can't be taught. Nevertheless, I very strongly suspect that what he said was what he honestly believes.

I don't disagree with him but I think it raises some interesting questions about what can be taught and what can't (and in some cases what our musical goals should be).

Sadly there is a truth in that, at least in my experience. Some people just do have a more natural sense of timing, pitch and better motor skills on an instrument than others. There's been people I have taught who started at the same time being taught the same things but some pupils just accelerate away from others. 3 years ago I started teaching two 12 year olds. One just didn't get anywhere, the other is now an excellent guitarist at just 15. The same thing has happened with older students. 

This doesn't mean non natural players won't get anywhere, but it can mean it's a lot more work to get somewhere. I wasn't a natural player myself but threw a ridiculous amount of time at it in order to get somewhere and still do, often practicing hours a day. For most people though this isn't an option with work, kids, life etc needing to come before hours of guitar practice. 

 

Keefy

Danny1969 said:

Blueingreen said:

Bukovac says in one of his earlier videos, and I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember his exact words, that as a musician you either have "it" or you don't, that he can tell almost instantaneously whether anyone has "it", and it can't be learned.

I think he slightly backtracks or tries to soften that stance later: there's a certain awkwardness if you're running a series of teaching videos and you believe that what really matters can't be taught. Nevertheless, I very strongly suspect that what he said was what he honestly believes.

I don't disagree with him but I think it raises some interesting questions about what can be taught and what can't (and in some cases what our musical goals should be).

Sadly there is a truth in that, at least in my experience. Some people just do have a more natural sense of timing, pitch and better motor skills on an instrument than others. There's been people I have taught who started at the same time being taught the same things but some pupils just accelerate away from others. 3 years ago I started teaching two 12 year olds. One just didn't get anywhere, the other is now an excellent guitarist at just 15. The same thing has happened with older students. 

This doesn't mean non natural players won't get anywhere, but it can mean it's a lot more work to get somewhere. I wasn't a natural player myself but threw a ridiculous amount of time at it in order to get somewhere and still do, often practicing hours a day. For most people though this isn't an option with work, kids, life etc needing to come before hours of guitar practice. 

 

Mrs Keefy complimented me the other day on being talented - just to be clear, she was talking about my abilities on musical instruments! My reply was that any ‘talent’ I had came from hours and years of learning and practice. There are some people who seem to have a natural advantage or inclination, and I can think of some who seem like they will never be any good as long as they have a hole in their arse.

guitarjack66

CaseOfAce said:

guitarjack66 said:

CaseOfAce said:

I've got "Guitar Lessons Goldmine : 100 Jazz Lessons" on the go as my "soak up and practice whilst watching Netflix" routine at the moment.

I have a huge gap (to say the least) in my ability as regards jazz guitar and I'm hoping this can least allow me to blag a few lines / play over changes / extend my chord knowledge and ultimately fool a few people into thinking I'm a well rounded guitarist(!).

Probably a stupid question but how do Jazz chords differ from traditional popular music chords? Suspensions? Extended chords? Etc.
I only ask as the jazz sound is very interesting and has a unique sound.

Jazz tends to feature chords (and a lot more of 'em!) which include additional scale notes not usually found in the standard rock / blues vocabularly (which generally feature major minor, dominant 7th and sus 2 / 4 chords).

So you've got 9th, 11th, 13th and then altered chords with flat / sharp 5th, 9ths, diminished , augmented..etc..etc...

This is obviously a massive simplification but the short answer is more complicated harmony! 
Not that your average Stevie Wonder track doesn't feature "expensive" chords or for instance you'll find a 13th chord in a Led Zeppelin song (What Is and What Should Never Be).

Cheers for the explanation. I suppose it explains why so many Jazz players appear supremely talented and appear to know a lot of theory. Jazz sounds very interesting even though I have to confess that some of the music does sound boring to me.