Hope you enjoy this approach, feel free to leave any questions in the comments. *At **17:09** I say "5" when I meant to say "1". I apologize and I will strive to be a better person*
Better person, huh? I'm not going to be surprised if there is a 'reveal' someday soon where you are revealed to be A.I.. You're just too darn good. Haha
"If you're auto-piloting min pentatonic over a chord progression and you think "Man, I sound really good", it's not you that sounds good, it's the chord progression that's allowing you to sound good". Pure Gold.
Your UA-cam videos are awesome, but I’m amazed at how much content is at your Patreon and how clearly mapped out your whole system is. You’re the best. Easily.
Another great video. I especially liked the exposition at the end. Someone like Larry Carlton or Steve Lukather would definitely not approach playing with the “I sound good just playing the minor pentatonic” type of attitude.
What I like about your stuff is that it challenges the viewer to think about stuff. To think about where the third is, what the third, find the third in different places. I think it improves me most definitely!
People who are new to this method of guitar should pay close attention to these center,left, and right shapes 3:54. They a great for breaking out of that CAGED pentatonic "box". These smaller building blocks allow for more percussion when playing. Think of it as building a mosaic or display resolution. Smaller pieces creates a sharper image. The Patreon course goes into much greater detail and highly recommended.
Seriously. I caught a snippet from Beato's interview, which led me here...and wow. This little shift in perspective is like magical music glue that is pulling a lot of the concepts I've been working on this past year together in a pretty profound way (cementing the practicality of combining all these abstractions). One night of practicing existing exercises with this perspective and the fretboard has immediately shrunk. I had a hard time putting my guitar down to go to sleep. Thank you LoG....right concept/right time.
Really great approach. This lesson not only works for the minor/major pentatonic but is also a great way to think about triads. Learning to use same pattern with each finger is an invaluable way to free up the brain-body connections. This is also a great way to deepen fretboard note knowing. If all you do is play pentatonic scales without thinking of which notes you are actually playing you lack an understanding of which notes are most important harmonically. This is the key message at the end of the video that is the real game changer. Thank you!
Thanks for nudging me out of using my training wheels. What's missing from your talking is stammering--which is a true sign of complete understanding of the topic. Blessed are the youth that hear your lectures/lessons. I will now, at 72, strive to be better. Thank you.
What an amazing lesson LoG! Thank you for opening my eyes and ears to see music as it should be seen and heard. You are doing something for this community that no one else does. Thank you! Thank you!
Excellent summary paced perfectly. Has opened a world of possibilities. Thank you and see you on Patreon. I particularly liked the cooking analogy. Basically if you always use the same ingredients in the same proportions, everything you do will taste the same!
You are an amazing teacher! I find it crazy how well you are able to break down these sophisticated concepts and put them into terms that even a child could understand. Thank you for your time and dedication to this page, ever since I started watching your videos my understanding and progress on guitar have skyrocketed! I wish I found your page years ago! For those who have any confusion about guitar theory and how it is applied, I strongly suggest subscribing and getting in on some of the great information LoG has to give! Thanks again and best of luck to you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOUR CURIOUSITY IS AWESOME. I'VE ACTUALLY HAD TO PUSH MYSELF TO DO THIS WITHOUT KNOWING IT. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ MUSIC, AND DIDN'T WANT TO SOUND LIKE A ROBOT. DUDE,YOU ARE AMAZING!!
Had to come back to this video months after watching to comment that "right shape, center shape, left shape" is a biiiig part of why I understand the fretboard now, thank you so much
I've seen multiple people comment on the pace of the delivery in these video lessons, and just wanted to chime in that you can utilize UA-cam's playback speed in order to help you if you're having trouble keeping up. I don't remember if it's native to UA-cam at this point or if I downloaded a plugin/extension, but with it I am able to set a custom speed in increments of .5. As guitar players trying to hone your musical ears, everyone in this comment section should be familiarizing themselves with it's benefits. I have personally found that .75x, .80x, and .85x are the most useful in allowing me to learn accurately by ear without distorting or warping the audio quality too much, and this feature may be useful if you're having a little trouble keeping pace. Just my two cents. Keep up the excellent lessons @LoGsounds!
I appreciate the comment. I know my approach can seem super fast and dense, but I've grown into this style by design. I make a point to go as deep as possible into each tiny thing that I'm doing, and if I slow down to baby step my way through the whole thing, these videos would be an hour long which I don't think is a good idea. And like you said, these are videos. They can be slowed down, stopped and rewatched, all of the luxuries of modern technology. Some of the most valuable music instructional videos I've seen are bootlegged clinics shot with a low quality cell phone with audio that's barely audible. I'm more than happy to rewatch it a thousand times to get that information. I'm just trying to provide things I find valuable in a straightforward and timely fashion.
Once again so thankful and grateful for discovering your channel. Great lessons! You Tom Quayle and Rick Graham are my gurus! Great lesson to work on this guitar weekend. You are doing Great Work. Blessings.🙏🏽🎸
Hey man, how is it going? I just want to let you know that you're the best guitar teacher I've ever seen. I'm 40 years old, and I've been playing the guitar since I was a young boy. I always had tremendous difficulty in learning theory through conventional methods, but your explanations are extremely visual, objective, and easy to learn. I've had quite a few a-ha moments watching your videos. I'll probably subscribe to your Patreon soon. Keep up the great work! Cheers from Brazil. :)
Great lessons this is similar to what I was thinking a while back but I was thinking about using the pentatonic as a framework starting the root on any string or note and grabbing half steps to the right or left to add any modal tone but this way you really don't even have to think in terms of the pentatonic.
Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the video. Honestly your approach of using pentatonic as the foundation is a great one. It's the easiest way to get the "foundational" sound of a chord (simple major/minor) and then adding the color notes of whatever you're going for. For example if your foundation is major, it's super easy to turn it into dominant by just adding in b7 which will always be located back two frets from 1 or up a fret from 6. It's also just as easy to turn it into major 7 by adding/featuring the 7. In my opinion it is the best approach for people who want to get into these sounds, as most people are already so comfortable with pentatonic. It removes the need to learn a bunch of new "scales" (which are mostly worthless), and puts the focus on those unique colors.
Awesome video. You're putting into words and teaching what I've been doing for a long time. I've always wondered even though I know it makes sense in certain situations why many guitarists would stretch way up there when the same note is nearby on the adjacent string. This method is also great for songwriting and piecing together solos because you're in a better position to move to the next area of neck as needed. Well done! Just curious, that high e string looks mighty close to the edge of the fretboard. Is it sometimes an issue?
Thanks for the comment! Yeah my high E string is pretty close to falling off. It's kind of annoying, but I'm dealing with it until I can get it resolved!
Hey Man, love your videos, especially the one you did with Chris Sherland. Super good. In one of your videos you say, "be able to play the scale on one string..." Do you have any videos about how to practice that?
Thanks for watching! To put it simply, memorize the distances between the notes of the major scale on one string. 1 to 2 is a whole step, 1 to 3 is two whole steps, 3 to 5 is a step 1/2, etc. Slow process but crazy valuable. I have a bunch of videos on it on my Patreon if you're interested, you can check out the first batch for free: linktr.ee/LoGsGuitarExtravaganza
@@LoGsounds Thanks man. I went to the free lessons that are in green on patreon...which one of those covers the single string distance thing you allude to above. Was I looking in the right place?
I'd check out FM (fretboard method) chapter 2. Side lesson B and C in particular. Chapter 1 is also very valuable in regards to finding all the notes on the fretboard if you're interested.
Oh those videos are SO good. I love that style of playing and yeah it will get me working on the scales horizontally. And not in a mechanical drill kinda way, but in a musical way. thank you. Do you know who Leo Kotke is?
Really enjoying your content and attitude. I think Frank Gambale does this too. I still need it down better horizontally and vertically descending, but the biggest obstacle for me is staying within the parent scale perspective without getting lost to build the diatonic chords... i.e. IV: 4 6 1, V: 5 7 1 3 --- since I always visualize from the tonic root. Currently believe this could be the best route to be able to execute modal mixture easily. Guessing the horizontal practice will help with this a lot, but maybe I should be also visualizing from another degree that doesn't often change. A question I have is... I've heard you say things like "7 is always going to be the 3rd of the V" does paying attention to details like that help the visualization or is it just for harmonic awareness?
Thanks for the comment! In my opinion looking at the 4 chord as 4-6-1 of the key is great and something you should know, but if I'm playing/implying the 4 chord I'm definitely looking at the notes from that chords perspective. So if I'm in the key of C playing over a 1 chord (C) I'll think about the notes in relation to that chord while it's happening, but if the chord switches to the 4 chord (F) I'm now thinking about the notes in relation to that chord, while thinking about how they fit "in the key" as a secondary thought. This keeps your note choice grounded in the actual chord that is happening in the music which is important as that's what your ears are hearing. If you're playing an E in your melody over the 4 chord in the example above, while that is the 3rd of the entire key your ear is probably not hearing it like that because at that moment it's functioning as the 7 of the actual chord happening, the 4 chord. This is generally what people refer to as "playing the changes", actually changing your note choice to match the chord at the moment. Moral of the story, thinking about how the notes you are playing function in the general key is great, but thinking about how they are functioning over the actual chord happening at that moment is probably better. Honestly both is the best idea, which refers to your last question. Being able to look at a note and say 7th of the 1 , 3rd of the 5, 6 of the 2, #4 of the 4, etc. will allow you to see how that note functions over everything in real time on the fretboard, and put that note into every harmonic context.
@@LoGsounds Helpful information. I appreciate the response and I've been chewing on it. Hard to ask for any more freely given information. Would you be down for some type of more direct lessons where I just venmo/paypal you for your thoughts/guidance on a topic? If there's somewhere I could email you or DM to discuss further let me know. Down to pay $50-100 / hr for your time. Let me know!
Great work, Christopher! Your wisdom and diligence are clearly evident in all of your vids. - - This is quality content right here folks. I've been playing for over 50 years, and I'm always learning, doesn't matter what style or how much of something I already know. You can always glean from guys like LoG.
I'm mostly basic clean tone, with a tiny bit of drive just to make it sound a bit fuller. I also have a very light chorus on that I'm getting from a plug-in. This type of very lightly driven clean can be achieved with really any type of overdrive pedal, just dialed way back with the level boosted. Tube screamers would work, or any type of "klon" style pedal, like a Wampler tumnus or a j rockett archer. I would check out the JHS UA-cam channel, probably the best resource for pedals on the internet.
I found your channel from Chris Sherland's video. You are an awesome guitar/music teacher, its incredible how much easier it is to get better at guitar with teachers who really know what they are doing like you and Chris. I immediately got better at guitar by using left, right, center mindset and the conclusion about scales was very eye opening as well. Do you think it is important to memorize what notes make up modes of scales? Like memorizing Aeolian as 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 and doing that with all the 7 modes? Will that serve any benefit?
Thanks for checking out the channel! Here's my approach on modes: First of all I do not use the mode names as they are unnecessary, I instead think about them as chords or chord sounds with a unique note. So instead of thinking aeolian, I just think 6 chord, or simply minor. I would start by thinking about the pentatonic first, as every major chord (mode) can play major pentatonic (1 2 3 5 6) and every minor chord can play minor pentatonic (1 b3 4 5 b7). This accounts for five of the seven notes, and all you really have to worry about are the two other notes, 4 - 7 for major and 2 - 6 for minor. So it goes like this: 1 (Maj pent + 4 and 7) 4 (Maj pent + #4 and 7) 5 (Maj pent + 4 and b7) 6 (min pent + 2 and b6) 2 (min pent + 2 and 6) 3 (min pent + b2 and b6) And then you have the oddball 7 chord, which is min 7 b5 so: 7 (min pent with b5, b2, and b6) I would also memorize and think about each "mode" as the corresponding unique sound. And if you want the mode name as well: 1 = standard major (ionian) 4 = Maj #4 (lydian) 5 = Maj b7 (Dom 7 or Mixolydian) 6 = standard minor (aeolian) 2 = min 6 (Dorian) 3 = min b2 (Phrygian) 7 = min7b5 (locrian) This puts the focus on the actual unique sound of each chord. Thinking about them as scales is not really the best idea in my opinion, as it often results in people not using them correctly. Remember, every mode (at least 1 through 6) is basically Maj or min with one unique note. Targeting that unique note is the way to achieve that mode sound. For example I once had a student demonstrate a Dorian (min 6 or the 2 chord) solo to me and they literally never touched the 6, which is the entire color of the mode. Because they were thinking of a finger pattern that yielded the sound instead of the actual sound itself, they weren't targeting or featuring that 6, the unique note. Therefore they weren't playing "Dorian", even though they thought they were. Hope that helps!
As I already said elsewhere in another video you did, I totally see the neck the same way (makes me think of the Tom Quayle method). What I was wondering is: how do you teach that approach to intermediate (or even beginner) guitar students? I totally agree that position playing tends to create what I would call "monkey playing" (what you call auto-pilot playing) which is much less satisfying. Do you teach them to learn all the roots on all the neck from the beginning? If you know all the notes on the neck, it's much more doable than if you don't.. How do you apply that to a real song to work on? I'm trying to find an effective way to share this approach with my students. I love this way of thinking, but most students don't study for hours and (like I do), and the results take time. Sorry for the many questions. Maybe should I look inside your patreon to find the answer? 😂
The approach is mapped out on the Patreon. Chapter 1 - Begin able to find all notes on the fretboard Chapter 2 - Playing the Major Scale on 1 string only (playing horizontally) Chapter 3 - Organizing the notes in priority of easiest to play over a chord to tricky-est (basics of playing over a chord, chord tones and such). I call this the Note Hierarchy Chapter 4 - Doing this but with other sounds like Minor and Dominant Ear training - How to hear these distances, examples of these sounds in guitar solos, vocal melodies, etc. Chapter 5-9 - The Left-Right-Center method, going through arpeggios, pentatonic, and the full sound. Also with various types of minor, dominant, etc. Throughout I'm always giving song examples, playing examples, writing examples, and how you should approach it mentally. It's important to realize that this doesn't take hours of study to get down. It's not about how much time you spend, it's about how you spend that time. If you turn on a backing track and start messing around while thinking about the numbers you're playing (3rd, 5th, 2nd, etc.) you will memorize this stuff remarkably fast, as there are only so many notes and locations. The problem is the vast majority of people actively choose to not think about this stuff when they casually play, only doing it when they "practice". If that's the approach, this will take forever as this information will never become natural. The only way it becomes natural is to think about it in your casual passive play sessions.
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply, makes sense to me. Sometimes it's hard to estimate what an "average" student can/is willing to do to progress on their knowledge of the instrument, besides learning songs, so the quest goes on for me. But I definitely think that a good goal for any player wanting to improvise is to know all the notes on the neck, that simplifies the further learning a lot. Compared to pianists, who can understand the layout of their instrument from the first lesson, we guitarists often see the neck like something mysterious and blurry at the beginning (and sometimes for many years). It always makes super happy when I see a student "getting it". Have a good day!
Curious if you have any thoughts on how to break out of the 5 shapes and starting to think in little note neighborhoods like this. I learned the 5 pentatonics and eventually added 4 and 7, and then have added my triads within that, but I’ve noticed I’m still limited to playing a bit boxey.
The path is to basically do what I'm doing in this video, but expand to include all notes. So if you play pentatonic, you would have a Left Right and Center shape pentatonic. If you wanted to play the full scale (or really any combination of notes) you would have the Left Right and Center shapes for that. After the structure of each shape is learned, you would practice all of them on every root around the fretboard, practice connecting them in various ways, creating ideas, etc. It is (by the way) the entire structure of my fretboard method through the Patreon.
Hey LoG. I would like to have your explanation video on rhythm, especially on how you count even you play melody, as i always feel i loose the rhythm when i play melody
I learned my 3rds for each note I didn't know that before. That would be a good lesson if you haven't done it. (C) 1 Major - 2 minors - 2 Majors - 2 minors - (C) 1 Major
Personally I just think about the chords that those 3rds come from, easier for me to visualize. So (in C) the 1st major 3rd comes from the C major chord, the next two minor 3rds come from Dm and Em, the next two Major 3rds come from F and G, and the final two minor 3rds come from the Am and Bdim. Keeps everything in the context of the implied chord which I find important, for me at least.
Your closing remarks are priceless. Your choice of words in explaining these ideas, really hit home with me. Thank you for the excellent lesson and your summary 🙏
I'm trying my best, it's just how I talk. If there was a button I could press that would change that, I'd press it. Until then this is what I've got. Feel free to watch it at .75 speed.
Hope you enjoy this approach, feel free to leave any questions in the comments.
*At **17:09** I say "5" when I meant to say "1". I apologize and I will strive to be a better person*
😂
I don't know man,..trust is hard to gain, easy to lose,....lol, your forgiven
Better person, huh? I'm not going to be surprised if there is a 'reveal' someday soon where you are revealed to be A.I.. You're just too darn good. Haha
"If you're auto-piloting min pentatonic over a chord progression and you think "Man, I sound really good", it's not you that sounds good, it's the chord progression that's allowing you to sound good". Pure Gold.
Your UA-cam videos are awesome, but I’m amazed at how much content is at your Patreon and how clearly mapped out your whole system is. You’re the best. Easily.
Glad you enjoy the stuff Curt!
You're such a good teacher
That is awesome. Exact what I was looking for in years. Thank you! Now I join you Patreon.
Another great video. I especially liked the exposition at the end. Someone like Larry Carlton or Steve Lukather would definitely not approach playing with the “I sound good just playing the minor pentatonic” type of attitude.
I'm glad I found your channel, great talk at the end of this vid, cheers
The only lesson every guitarist needs to learn! 👍
What I like about your stuff is that it challenges the viewer to think about stuff. To think about where the third is, what the third, find the third in different places. I think it improves me most definitely!
People who are new to this method of guitar should pay close attention to these center,left, and right shapes 3:54. They a great for breaking out of that CAGED pentatonic "box". These smaller building blocks allow for more percussion when playing. Think of it as building a mosaic or display resolution. Smaller pieces creates a sharper image. The Patreon course goes into much greater detail and highly recommended.
Who needs marketing when you've got a Dustin!
Seriously. I caught a snippet from Beato's interview, which led me here...and wow. This little shift in perspective is like magical music glue that is pulling a lot of the concepts I've been working on this past year together in a pretty profound way (cementing the practicality of combining all these abstractions). One night of practicing existing exercises with this perspective and the fretboard has immediately shrunk. I had a hard time putting my guitar down to go to sleep. Thank you LoG....right concept/right time.
Really great approach. This lesson not only works for the minor/major pentatonic but is also a great way to think about triads. Learning to use same pattern with each finger is an invaluable way to free up the brain-body connections. This is also a great way to deepen fretboard note knowing. If all you do is play pentatonic scales without thinking of which notes you are actually playing you lack an understanding of which notes are most important harmonically. This is the key message at the end of the video that is the real game changer. Thank you!
Fantastic lesson - thanks!
Thanks for nudging me out of using my training wheels. What's missing from your talking is stammering--which is a true sign of complete understanding of the topic. Blessed are the youth that hear your lectures/lessons. I will now, at 72, strive to be better. Thank you.
Thank you for your lesson 👍
What an amazing lesson LoG! Thank you for opening my eyes and ears to see music as it should be seen and heard. You are doing something for this community that no one else does. Thank you! Thank you!
Excellent summary paced perfectly. Has opened a world of possibilities. Thank you and see you on Patreon.
I particularly liked the cooking analogy. Basically if you always use the same ingredients in the same proportions, everything you do will taste the same!
I can smell the smoke from the wheels turning in my head. Good for you and thank you.
Sounds good, glad you're making progress!
You are an amazing teacher! I find it crazy how well you are able to break down these sophisticated concepts and put them into terms that even a child could understand. Thank you for your time and dedication to this page, ever since I started watching your videos my understanding and progress on guitar have skyrocketed! I wish I found your page years ago! For those who have any confusion about guitar theory and how it is applied, I strongly suggest subscribing and getting in on some of the great information LoG has to give! Thanks again and best of luck to you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOUR CURIOUSITY IS AWESOME. I'VE ACTUALLY HAD TO PUSH MYSELF TO DO THIS WITHOUT KNOWING IT. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ MUSIC, AND DIDN'T WANT TO SOUND LIKE A ROBOT. DUDE,YOU ARE AMAZING!!
Some of the BEST material on UA-cam! Thanks so much for all you do for the guitar community LoG…so helpful!
Guys a beast
This is awesome! I’ve decided to learn the neck of the guitar and this is by far my favourite way to learn!!! Thank you, thank-you, thank you! 🙏♥️♥️♥️
Had to come back to this video months after watching to comment that "right shape, center shape, left shape" is a biiiig part of why I understand the fretboard now, thank you so much
Glad to hear it. It's the foundation of my guitar method over on the Patreon, and people over there seem to like it as well!
This video us helping me frame my approach to understanding the fretboard & NOT being a training wheels position player!!
Thanks mate
I've seen multiple people comment on the pace of the delivery in these video lessons, and just wanted to chime in that you can utilize UA-cam's playback speed in order to help you if you're having trouble keeping up. I don't remember if it's native to UA-cam at this point or if I downloaded a plugin/extension, but with it I am able to set a custom speed in increments of .5. As guitar players trying to hone your musical ears, everyone in this comment section should be familiarizing themselves with it's benefits. I have personally found that .75x, .80x, and .85x are the most useful in allowing me to learn accurately by ear without distorting or warping the audio quality too much, and this feature may be useful if you're having a little trouble keeping pace. Just my two cents.
Keep up the excellent lessons @LoGsounds!
I appreciate the comment. I know my approach can seem super fast and dense, but I've grown into this style by design. I make a point to go as deep as possible into each tiny thing that I'm doing, and if I slow down to baby step my way through the whole thing, these videos would be an hour long which I don't think is a good idea. And like you said, these are videos. They can be slowed down, stopped and rewatched, all of the luxuries of modern technology.
Some of the most valuable music instructional videos I've seen are bootlegged clinics shot with a low quality cell phone with audio that's barely audible. I'm more than happy to rewatch it a thousand times to get that information. I'm just trying to provide things I find valuable in a straightforward and timely fashion.
Hey LoG! Heard about your channel from Chris Shetland’s Studio. Love your stuff and I’ll be sticking around. Subbed!
Thanks for checking out the material!
Once again so thankful and grateful for discovering your channel. Great lessons! You Tom Quayle and Rick Graham are my gurus! Great lesson to work on this guitar weekend. You are doing Great Work. Blessings.🙏🏽🎸
Thanks for watching!
Hey man, how is it going? I just want to let you know that you're the best guitar teacher I've ever seen. I'm 40 years old, and I've been playing the guitar since I was a young boy. I always had tremendous difficulty in learning theory through conventional methods, but your explanations are extremely visual, objective, and easy to learn. I've had quite a few a-ha moments watching your videos. I'll probably subscribe to your Patreon soon. Keep up the great work! Cheers from Brazil. :)
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoy the stuff. Happy to hear this approach is working for you!
Great lessons this is similar to what I was thinking a while back but I was thinking about using the pentatonic as a framework starting the root on any string or note and grabbing half steps to the right or left to add any modal tone but this way you really don't even have to think in terms of the pentatonic.
Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the video. Honestly your approach of using pentatonic as the foundation is a great one. It's the easiest way to get the "foundational" sound of a chord (simple major/minor) and then adding the color notes of whatever you're going for.
For example if your foundation is major, it's super easy to turn it into dominant by just adding in b7 which will always be located back two frets from 1 or up a fret from 6. It's also just as easy to turn it into major 7 by adding/featuring the 7. In my opinion it is the best approach for people who want to get into these sounds, as most people are already so comfortable with pentatonic. It removes the need to learn a bunch of new "scales" (which are mostly worthless), and puts the focus on those unique colors.
Merry Christmas LoG! What an accomplished player you are, thank you for all the content, keep up the great work!
Same to you!
I said previously you were becoming my favourite online guitar teacher…. you now are!! Excellent video, thanks for all the help!
I appreciate it!
Just amazing !
Awesome video. You're putting into words and teaching what I've been doing for a long time. I've always wondered even though I know it makes sense in certain situations why many guitarists would stretch way up there when the same note is nearby on the adjacent string. This method is also great for songwriting and piecing together solos because you're in a better position to move to the next area of neck as needed. Well done! Just curious, that high e string looks mighty close to the edge of the fretboard. Is it sometimes an issue?
Thanks for the comment! Yeah my high E string is pretty close to falling off. It's kind of annoying, but I'm dealing with it until I can get it resolved!
Thank you sir @@LoGsounds
Hey Man, love your videos, especially the one you did with Chris Sherland. Super good. In one of your videos you say, "be able to play the scale on one string..." Do you have any videos about how to practice that?
Thanks for watching!
To put it simply, memorize the distances between the notes of the major scale on one string. 1 to 2 is a whole step, 1 to 3 is two whole steps, 3 to 5 is a step 1/2, etc. Slow process but crazy valuable. I have a bunch of videos on it on my Patreon if you're interested, you can check out the first batch for free:
linktr.ee/LoGsGuitarExtravaganza
@@LoGsounds Thanks man. I went to the free lessons that are in green on patreon...which one of those covers the single string distance thing you allude to above. Was I looking in the right place?
I'd check out FM (fretboard method) chapter 2. Side lesson B and C in particular. Chapter 1 is also very valuable in regards to finding all the notes on the fretboard if you're interested.
@@LoGsounds Thanks man. Those are the ones!
Oh those videos are SO good. I love that style of playing and yeah it will get me working on the scales horizontally. And not in a mechanical drill kinda way, but in a musical way. thank you. Do you know who Leo Kotke is?
Really enjoying your content and attitude. I think Frank Gambale does this too. I still need it down better horizontally and vertically descending, but the biggest obstacle for me is staying within the parent scale perspective without getting lost to build the diatonic chords... i.e. IV: 4 6 1, V: 5 7 1 3 --- since I always visualize from the tonic root. Currently believe this could be the best route to be able to execute modal mixture easily. Guessing the horizontal practice will help with this a lot, but maybe I should be also visualizing from another degree that doesn't often change.
A question I have is... I've heard you say things like "7 is always going to be the 3rd of the V" does paying attention to details like that help the visualization or is it just for harmonic awareness?
Thanks for the comment!
In my opinion looking at the 4 chord as 4-6-1 of the key is great and something you should know, but if I'm playing/implying the 4 chord I'm definitely looking at the notes from that chords perspective. So if I'm in the key of C playing over a 1 chord (C) I'll think about the notes in relation to that chord while it's happening, but if the chord switches to the 4 chord (F) I'm now thinking about the notes in relation to that chord, while thinking about how they fit "in the key" as a secondary thought.
This keeps your note choice grounded in the actual chord that is happening in the music which is important as that's what your ears are hearing. If you're playing an E in your melody over the 4 chord in the example above, while that is the 3rd of the entire key your ear is probably not hearing it like that because at that moment it's functioning as the 7 of the actual chord happening, the 4 chord. This is generally what people refer to as "playing the changes", actually changing your note choice to match the chord at the moment.
Moral of the story, thinking about how the notes you are playing function in the general key is great, but thinking about how they are functioning over the actual chord happening at that moment is probably better. Honestly both is the best idea, which refers to your last question. Being able to look at a note and say 7th of the 1 , 3rd of the 5, 6 of the 2, #4 of the 4, etc. will allow you to see how that note functions over everything in real time on the fretboard, and put that note into every harmonic context.
@@LoGsounds Helpful information. I appreciate the response and I've been chewing on it. Hard to ask for any more freely given information. Would you be down for some type of more direct lessons where I just venmo/paypal you for your thoughts/guidance on a topic? If there's somewhere I could email you or DM to discuss further let me know. Down to pay $50-100 / hr for your time. Let me know!
Sure, you can send me a message on Instagram, log_sounds
Great work, Christopher! Your wisdom and diligence are clearly evident in all of your vids. - - This is quality content right here folks. I've been playing for over 50 years, and I'm always learning, doesn't matter what style or how much of something I already know. You can always glean from guys like LoG.
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Really like your guitar sound. What pedals would you recommend? Im new at this.
I'm mostly basic clean tone, with a tiny bit of drive just to make it sound a bit fuller. I also have a very light chorus on that I'm getting from a plug-in.
This type of very lightly driven clean can be achieved with really any type of overdrive pedal, just dialed way back with the level boosted. Tube screamers would work, or any type of "klon" style pedal, like a Wampler tumnus or a j rockett archer. I would check out the JHS UA-cam channel, probably the best resource for pedals on the internet.
Just awesome content as always 🎸🎅 thanks so much for your videos, I have sure learned a lot from you!
I appreciate it as usual!
Great content. Very similar to how Tom Quayle visualizes the fretboard. Do you do 1:1 lessons on zoom ?
I found your channel from Chris Sherland's video. You are an awesome guitar/music teacher, its incredible how much easier it is to get better at guitar with teachers who really know what they are doing like you and Chris. I immediately got better at guitar by using left, right, center mindset and the conclusion about scales was very eye opening as well.
Do you think it is important to memorize what notes make up modes of scales? Like memorizing Aeolian as 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 and doing that with all the 7 modes? Will that serve any benefit?
Thanks for checking out the channel!
Here's my approach on modes:
First of all I do not use the mode names as they are unnecessary, I instead think about them as chords or chord sounds with a unique note. So instead of thinking aeolian, I just think 6 chord, or simply minor.
I would start by thinking about the pentatonic first, as every major chord (mode) can play major pentatonic (1 2 3 5 6) and every minor chord can play minor pentatonic (1 b3 4 5 b7). This accounts for five of the seven notes, and all you really have to worry about are the two other notes, 4 - 7 for major and 2 - 6 for minor.
So it goes like this:
1 (Maj pent + 4 and 7)
4 (Maj pent + #4 and 7)
5 (Maj pent + 4 and b7)
6 (min pent + 2 and b6)
2 (min pent + 2 and 6)
3 (min pent + b2 and b6)
And then you have the oddball 7 chord, which is min 7 b5 so:
7 (min pent with b5, b2, and b6)
I would also memorize and think about each "mode" as the corresponding unique sound. And if you want the mode name as well:
1 = standard major (ionian)
4 = Maj #4 (lydian)
5 = Maj b7 (Dom 7 or Mixolydian)
6 = standard minor (aeolian)
2 = min 6 (Dorian)
3 = min b2 (Phrygian)
7 = min7b5 (locrian)
This puts the focus on the actual unique sound of each chord. Thinking about them as scales is not really the best idea in my opinion, as it often results in people not using them correctly. Remember, every mode (at least 1 through 6) is basically Maj or min with one unique note. Targeting that unique note is the way to achieve that mode sound. For example I once had a student demonstrate a Dorian (min 6 or the 2 chord) solo to me and they literally never touched the 6, which is the entire color of the mode. Because they were thinking of a finger pattern that yielded the sound instead of the actual sound itself, they weren't targeting or featuring that 6, the unique note. Therefore they weren't playing "Dorian", even though they thought they were. Hope that helps!
@@LoGsounds Very very helpful! Thank you. Ill have to make sure I listen for those unique notes and sounds / how they relate to the song being played.
Thank you sir! Awesome lesson!
Thanks for checking it out!
I can't wait to get to my guitar to try this!
Helpfull,,,, Love from north east Assam 💞
A can't stop hearing Undone by Weezer when you play this. Lol. 10:17
As I already said elsewhere in another video you did, I totally see the neck the same way (makes me think of the Tom Quayle method). What I was wondering is: how do you teach that approach to intermediate (or even beginner) guitar students? I totally agree that position playing tends to create what I would call "monkey playing" (what you call auto-pilot playing) which is much less satisfying.
Do you teach them to learn all the roots on all the neck from the beginning? If you know all the notes on the neck, it's much more doable than if you don't..
How do you apply that to a real song to work on? I'm trying to find an effective way to share this approach with my students. I love this way of thinking, but most students don't study for hours and (like I do), and the results take time.
Sorry for the many questions. Maybe should I look inside your patreon to find the answer? 😂
The approach is mapped out on the Patreon.
Chapter 1 - Begin able to find all notes on the fretboard
Chapter 2 - Playing the Major Scale on 1 string only (playing horizontally)
Chapter 3 - Organizing the notes in priority of easiest to play over a chord to tricky-est (basics of playing over a chord, chord tones and such). I call this the Note Hierarchy
Chapter 4 - Doing this but with other sounds like Minor and Dominant
Ear training - How to hear these distances, examples of these sounds in guitar solos, vocal melodies, etc.
Chapter 5-9 - The Left-Right-Center method, going through arpeggios, pentatonic, and the full sound. Also with various types of minor, dominant, etc.
Throughout I'm always giving song examples, playing examples, writing examples, and how you should approach it mentally.
It's important to realize that this doesn't take hours of study to get down. It's not about how much time you spend, it's about how you spend that time. If you turn on a backing track and start messing around while thinking about the numbers you're playing (3rd, 5th, 2nd, etc.) you will memorize this stuff remarkably fast, as there are only so many notes and locations. The problem is the vast majority of people actively choose to not think about this stuff when they casually play, only doing it when they "practice". If that's the approach, this will take forever as this information will never become natural. The only way it becomes natural is to think about it in your casual passive play sessions.
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply, makes sense to me. Sometimes it's hard to estimate what an "average" student can/is willing to do to progress on their knowledge of the instrument, besides learning songs, so the quest goes on for me. But I definitely think that a good goal for any player wanting to improvise is to know all the notes on the neck, that simplifies the further learning a lot. Compared to pianists, who can understand the layout of their instrument from the first lesson, we guitarists often see the neck like something mysterious and blurry at the beginning (and sometimes for many years). It always makes super happy when I see a student "getting it". Have a good day!
Jerry Garcia was kinda successful with this sound.
Curious if you have any thoughts on how to break out of the 5 shapes and starting to think in little note neighborhoods like this. I learned the 5 pentatonics and eventually added 4 and 7, and then have added my triads within that, but I’ve noticed I’m still limited to playing a bit boxey.
The path is to basically do what I'm doing in this video, but expand to include all notes. So if you play pentatonic, you would have a Left Right and Center shape pentatonic. If you wanted to play the full scale (or really any combination of notes) you would have the Left Right and Center shapes for that.
After the structure of each shape is learned, you would practice all of them on every root around the fretboard, practice connecting them in various ways, creating ideas, etc. It is (by the way) the entire structure of my fretboard method through the Patreon.
Thanks!
Hey LoG. I would like to have your explanation video on rhythm, especially on how you count even you play melody, as i always feel i loose the rhythm when i play melody
Thanks for the suggestion!
I learned my 3rds for each note I didn't know that before. That would be a good lesson if you haven't done it. (C) 1 Major - 2 minors - 2 Majors - 2 minors - (C) 1 Major
Personally I just think about the chords that those 3rds come from, easier for me to visualize. So (in C) the 1st major 3rd comes from the C major chord, the next two minor 3rds come from Dm and Em, the next two Major 3rds come from F and G, and the final two minor 3rds come from the Am and Bdim. Keeps everything in the context of the implied chord which I find important, for me at least.
First! Great content as usual
Your closing remarks are priceless. Your choice of words in explaining these ideas, really hit home with me. Thank you for the excellent lesson and your summary 🙏
I appreciate it, thanks for watching!
Was gonna say the same🎉 what a great teacher and musician
I wanna practice Licks using ear so i am going to paste time stamps to traverse to that lick easily and listen as many times:
@0:42
@0:59
Dude, your lessons are fantastic, but please ...slow down...breathe, so we can absorb this great info
Maybe dont talk so fast
I used to struggle with grasping people who talk faster and slowed down UA-cam video playback speed.
I'm trying my best, it's just how I talk. If there was a button I could press that would change that, I'd press it. Until then this is what I've got. Feel free to watch it at .75 speed.
U got it...when u got it u got it...thanks for my 3 light bulbs