Conference napalm::guitar

    I just play. I try to copy everything I hear, and when I get bored
    I start making things up. Nothing against doing exercises, but I
    decided a long time ago I was never going to give any competition
    to Segovia or Eric Clapton, so now I just enjoy myself in whatever
    little time there is to do so.
    
    Ram
    

    I'll typically do scales for a while , then just kinda go wild
    pacticing bends and runs.
    
    Then I usually put on some album that is blusey so it's easy to
    just jump in and jam. Then I'll work on a recording project if I
    have time.....although this usually requires that I put the guitar
    down as often as not.
    
    The best practice I've ever had was trying to get a recording together.
    The tape deck doesn't lie.
    
    dave

    There's a guy who has contributed to this conference who I think
    uses the most varied and comprehensive set of practice routines
    I ever heard - if Dave (Morse) Blickstein doesn't mind me pointing
    the spotlite on him?
    
    How 'bout sharing some of them here, db??

    I don't know if my routine is all that unusual, and it varies greatly
    from season to season (although from day-to-day I tend to keep it
    fairly consistent).
    
    Here are some of the things I typically do:
    
    1) Warm up - I find this to be absolutely necessary each time I
       play.  If I don't, I just don't play as well.  Do I always do
       warm up?  No, of course not.  But usually I do.  Warm up just
       consists of some simple alternate picking exercises, like the
       standard 4 finger exercise going across strings and back, and
       then moving up a fret.  (Moving up the fretboard just gives you
       a convenient method of counting: i.e. if you go from fret 1 to
       fret 12 and then back to fret 1, you've done the exercise 23
       times.)
    
    2) Picking exercises - I just make up exercises that emphasize one
       particular picking pattern.  For example, for cross picking I'll
       either arpeggiate a chord (which is a good lick anyway) or I'll
       just play a three finger exercise but across the strings instead
       of on the same string (Jimmy Page actually used this excercise
       as a riff in "Radioactive"!).  I do each exercise two ways, one
       way is starting with a downstroke, and then starting with an
       upstroke.
    
    3) Noodling - After a certain amount of exercises you can go crazy.
       At that point, I just start fooling around.  I'll do something
       like invent a little rhythm and then sorta solo over it.  If
       I like it, I try to remember it to see if it can be turned into
       something.
    
    4) Rehearsal - this is just working on stuff my band is doing, or
       learning stuff I wanna do.   The way I work on the more difficult
       things is to break the hard parts in to small sections (a bar
       or two) and turn it into an exercise and start playing it slowly
       and then gradually faster and faster (BTW, I play to a metronome
       frequently which I think is good practice for playing with other
       people (an external time source).  I'm thinking about getting
       a drum machine and using that instead of the metronome cause
       that tick-tock can drive you crazy after awhile.)  I really think
       this is the best way to learn things (in small chunks playing
       slow and CLEAN).  Most people want to play things at speed or
       not at all, and I think that leads to sloppy playing.
    
       One thing in particular that I find useful is to record the chord
       changes for the guitar solo and then practice soloing over it.
       I just find that doing this allows me to build up a certain
       repetoire of ideas (not to mention confidence) that I can use
       when I do it "for real".
    
    5) Thinking - I'm just now trying to understand a little more about
       what I play and why it works when it does and why it doesn't
       when it don't.  I just noticed that I had to basic approaches
       to soloing: 1) hear something and find it on the fretboard, and
       2) stick to old reliable finger patterns and play in boxes.
       The latter didn't seem to leave much room for improvement or
       flexibility.  The former is nice, but I felt it would help to
       know more about why something I hear sounds "right".   So I like
       to take a little time out and listen to something and sorta analyze
       it: figure out (blush) what keys it's in (didn't always bother
       before when I played by ear), figure out the modes in the chord
       changes, figure out the (blush again) time signature, etc.
    
    6) Tricks, equipment etc.  Sometimes I just like to work on various
       little tricks or techniques.  For example, I got to talk to Eric
       Johnson a little after his show at the channel and he was nice
       enough to show me how to do this trick that makes the guitar
       sound like a japaneese koto.   Or, I saw Van Halen last week
       and as the result of watching him, figured out how he managed
       to do this one section of "Cathedral" that always baffled me
       when I had tried to learn it previously.   Or I'll just fool
       around with the knobs and things on my rig.  I particularly like
       messing with the digital delay.
    
       Another thing I'm working on now is just doing bending and vibrato
       exercises.  A friend recently loaned me his four track and one
       of the things I noticed after hearing my playing is that my bends
       were SO FAR off pitch that it stuck out like a sore thumb and made 
       everything else sound terrible.

    7) Ear training - I really enjoy copping things off records although
       I find it real difficult at times because my preference in music
       go towards tunes where I can't figure out what's going on (that
       is the tune is different enough so that my ear gets fooled by
       the chord changes (unfamiliar patterns, jazz chords, etc.). 
       Also, certain kinds of timing things come naturally to me while
       others never come at all. (Example, I spent probably an hour
       figuring out the timing in the opening guitar riff to Steve Morse's
       "Cruise Missile", but I'll bet someoone else could just listen
       to it and have it down pat.) But you definitely get better as you do it.
        
    Now after all this detailed bullshit comes the bad news:
    It only helps a little.   There are times when I'm playing that
    I really think I'd be better of dropping the guitar and taking up 
    something like chess.

    	db

    Hi,
    I was just browsing this notes file.
    I was fortunate in being able to study with Olen McCutcheon in
    Parkersburg W. Va for almost three years. He was a peer of Segovia's
    in the thirties and forties. He retired to Parkersburg after an
    auto accident and a heart attack. If he's still alive Mac is almost
    80.  There are many stories about his prowess with music and the
    guitar. Mac had me running Segovia scales ten times for each
    key for rest stroke and ten times with arpeggio stroke (one time
    was the scale through each of the right hand fingerings).
    There were five Sor studies to do each day, Recuerdos, and Allard's study
    in A. Mac claimed just the pieces without the scale sufficient to
    keep the hands and heart tuned. Then came the lesson
    There are a few of his students that I know may have played
    professionally and may still be doing so.
    Bob Fietsam, Tom Thomas, Ray Thompson. Rey del le Torre heard one
    of Mac's students, Andy Ketterman, at a guitar class and asked him
    to come to New York to study with him but Andy was killed in an
    Auto accident just a couple of weeks before he was to go to New
    York. I had been a student of Andy's and Mac felt obligated to
    teach Andy's students. Otherwise I probably would never have been
    able to study with him since audition was the only other way. I
    am no great shakes at guitar, just love to play music and guitar.
    Charlie Byrd studied with Mac for a while in the early 70'
    Bill Powell who owns a music store in Parkersburg studied with Mac
    for years. He's very good. Bill never had confidence to ever
    make it and his ambition was for a music store.  If you are ever
    in Parkersburg W. Va and the Guitar Studio is still there stop in
    and see Bill. Sometimtes I managed the entire practice routine and
    sometimes not.  Mac said to play at least five minutes each day
    even if you didn't feel like it and to put the guitar away after the
    five minutes if still inclined to do so.
    
    -Tim

    I've been playing (or trying to play) for three years now, and I've
    learned two things worth mentioning here.
    
    First, Harvey Mackay made a good statement in his book, "Swim with
    the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive".  Although he was writing
    about business, this little tidbit of advice was particularly
    meaningful and worthwhile to me as a guitar player.  He said:
    
    "Practice does not make perfect, it's PERFECT practice that makes
    perfect."
    
    In my experience this means not just sitting down to practice just
    to go through some exercises in some amount of time, but practicing
    with every intention of getting it perfect each and every time you
    try.  Of course, you won't get it perfect each and every time, but
    with that as your intent you notice what it is you do wrong and
    strive to correct it.  Otherwise your practice is just making the
    same mistakes over and over.  When your guitar playing becomes
    important enough to you, it is easy to maintain this intention to
    perfection through the numerous hours of practice it's going to
    take to achieve it.
    
    The second thing I learned came from my body-building sister.  It
    seems that in body-building if you perform the same exercise routine
    long enough, your muscles get used to the effort and stop developing,
    no matter how intense your workout.  I was experiencing the same
    thing in my practice routines.  When I began to vary my routines
    I immediately began to improve.  I think what this all means is
    that you have to strive constantly to push your limits in whatever
    ways you can.  Typically, this seems to involve some form of pain,
    but once I've worked my way through that my improvement has been
    dramatic and most satisfying.
    
    Pete (who is still trying)

>    "Practice does not make perfect, it's PERFECT practice that makes
>    perfect."

This is probably the most important lesson to learn.

>    I immediately began to improve.  I think what this all means is
>    that you have to strive constantly to push your limits in whatever
>    ways you can.  Typically, this seems to involve some form of pain,
>    but once I've worked my way through that my improvement has been
>    dramatic and most satisfying.

Be careful.  Working through pain may be right for body building, but
for musicians, it *can* be disastrous.  Pushing your limits is fine, but it's 
best to push them in small increments.  When you're young, pushing limits and 
working through pain *can* produce satisfying results, but, as you get older,
the effects of all that limit pushing can cause premature deterioration in 
vulnerable areas like knees and wrists.  Some people are more susceptible
than others.  

I can't tell you that, if you ignore pain and do marathon limit-pushing 
practice sessions, you'll develop tendonitis.  But you will definitely 
increase the risk.

This advice is based on a lot of reading, talking with seven different medical 
specialists, and my own experience.  For two years I suffered from tendonitis 
in my wrists.  I couldn't play music or even write with a pen.  The most 
probable cause was my habit of practicing long hours, stretching, straining, 
pushing my limits and ignoring the warning signs - pain, stiffness and 
fatigue.  

I don't want to dampen anybody's spirits, but I also don't want you to learn 
the way I did.  It hurts.

Bob

    
    
       My practicing consists of all different things.I always start
     with my chromatic scales.This takes anywhere from 30 minutes to
    2 hours.I had taken 4 or 5 lessons a few years ago and my teacher
    showed me about 8 different of these and now I've developed many
    myself.Here's a few of them.
    
    
    
    
          1.Strait coordination chromatic.
        
            A. Start on the low E string 1st position
            B. 1st finger on the first fret.  Down-Stroke
            C. 2nd finger on the second fret. Up-Stroke
            D. 3rd finger on the third fret.  Down-Stroke
            E. 4th finger on the fourth fret. Up-Stroke
         
          Now when you move up to the A string do the same pattern.
          Same for the D string. When you get to the G string the pattern
          Changes.
    
            A. 1st finger on the first fret.  Down-Stroke
            B. 2nd finger on the second fret. Up-Stroke
            C. 3rd finger on the third fret.  Down-Stroke 
          
          That's it. NO fourth finger or fourth fret involed.
          
          Now when you go to the B string it will be another Down-Stroke.
    Now if you are an avid alternite picker this will feel real funny
    but start slow and work it up to speed.(That's the great thing about
    this exercise is that it flows with your ability. The faster you
    are,the faster the chromatic.Even if you don't care to play fast it is
    still a great exercise.)
    
                REMEMBER TO ALWAYS KEEP SYNCHRONIZATION!!!!!!!
    
         Desending will be the reverse.
    
           A. High E string will be ( 1st position on foruth fret)
    an Up-Stroke,Down-Stroke,Up-stroke,Down-Stroke.Of course removing
    1 finger for each stroke.
    
           The B string will be the same. On the G string skip the 4th
    finger and the fourth fret again but start on an Up-stroke.The lower
    three strings are the same pattern as the B and E strings.
    
    
      I'm not sure how well I explained this so if you have any questions
    feel free to call me at DTN 275-3705. Between 6:00 am and 3:00 pm.
    Just ask for Rob.
    
    
    
                                               Hope I've been a help,
                                                                     R.C.
    
    P.S. The Paul Gilbert video also has many great exercises that can
    be played fast or slow for beginners to shredders. I highly recommend
    it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    end
    it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    
                                                        
               
    
    
    

    
	I had an instructor a long time ago who used to draw scales out in 
the following format for me to practice. He had drawn maybe a dozen or so that 
I have since lost. He told me to play the scale anywhere on the fret board I 
wanted and later we would work on keys and voices but right now use it as
an exercise to warm and loosen up. I found this an easy way to read the 
scales for practice purposes although I'm lousy at remembering the names of 
the scales. I remember this one mostly because played at the correct fret and
with a little modification on the way down it's the beginning of Blue Sky.


	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	|  x  x  x  x  x 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	|  x  x  x  |  | 
	----------------
	x  |  |  |  x  x 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------


	Can anyone tell me what this scale is called? If anyone could draw 
    out others this way so that I can replace my own notes I would appreciate 
    it. I'm particularly interested in but do not want to be limited to blues 
    scales. The instructor is since gone elsewhere and I need to build a good 
    warm up routine. Whats your opinion of this approach to developing finger 
    dexterity? 
    	I typically start out with something like this and then move into some 
    tunes I know but need improvement, which is all of them, and then try to 
    learn something new. By then my fingers are meat and it's time to play 
    'just one more' and quit.

    Dave Kinney

    
    What you've drawn in .8 is the blues scale, except you left out the
    lowest note, which sould be on the second fret from the top on the
    left-most (E) string.  That note determines *which* blues scale it is.
    

    That is a Pentatonic scale.  It gets it name because it has 5 notes to
    the octave.  It's the same tonality as if you just play the black keys
    on a piano.
    
    If you add the following notes, you get the familier major and relative
    minor scales. Like this:
    
    
	----------------
	|  |  |  z  |  | 
	----------------
	z  x  x  x  x  x 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  z  | 
	----------------
	z  x  x  x  |  z 
	----------------
	x  z  |  |  x  x 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
    
    
    To play the scale in an extended form try this fingering:
    
    
    
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	1  1  1  x  x  x   slide up here on 4th string
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	3  3  1  1  |  |   and repeat pattern here on strings 4,3
	----------------
	4  4  |  |  1  |   slide up here on string 2
	----------------
	|  |  3  3  |  | 
	----------------
    	z  z  4  4  1  1   and repeat again here on strings 2,1
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	|  |  z  z  3  3 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  4  4 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  |  | 
	----------------
	|  |  |  |  z  z 
	----------------
    
    
    
    
    You also get the same scale with different fingering two frets higher
    if, using the above diagram, instead of starting on the 1's, start with
    the 1st finger on the 3's and play the 3-4-z patterns up the neck.
    
    A friend showed me this years ago, and it opened up a lot of
    possibilities for me.  Maybe it will help some less experienced folks
    as well.
    
    Have fun,
    Will
    
    
    

    
    Isn't it one of the pentatonic scales, just played over two octaves?
    Maybe Major Pentatonic?  I'm rusty, but is it right?
    
    Mr. Ed...
    
    But anyway, I'll sit for hours and just play the fingerings for
    all the modes.  I play bass, so this is a little different for guitar
    after the last four strings.  I illustrate just over one octave,
    and the fingerings don't change no matter what key if I'm not mistaken.
    It's just the same pattern, the root defining what key it is.
    Correct me on any of these if I'm wrong.
    
    Ionian (major) W,W,H,W,W,W,H
    
    __________
    |  *  *  | 
    ----------
    *  *  |  | 
    ----------
    |  |  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    
    Dorian   W,H,W,W,W,H,W
    
    __________
    |  |  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    __________
    *  |  |  |
    __________
    
    
    Phrygian   H,W,W,W,H,W,W
    
    __________
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  |  |  |
    ----------
    |  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  |  |
    ----------
    
    
    Lydian   W,W,W,H,W,W,H
    
    __________
    |  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  |  |  |
    ----------
    |  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    
    
    Mixolydian   W,W,H,W,W,H,W
    
    __________
    |  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------	
    
    
    Aeolian (natural minor)  W,H,W,W,H,W,W
    
    __________
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  |  |
    ----------
    
    
    Locrian  H,W,W,H,W,W,W
    
    __________
    |  |  |  |
    ----------
    *  *  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  |  |
    ----------
    |  |  *  |
    ----------
    *  *  |  |
    ----------
    
    
    I usually take one pattern or mode and start at the top of the neck
    and go through it in two octaves up and down, then move up a half
    step and do it again, and so on until I've reached the 20th or so
    fret then go back down with each mode or until I burn out.
    
    Another thing is to alternate patterns.  For example take a pattern
    and play it like
    
    R,2,3,4,2,3,4,5,3,4,5,6,4,5,6,7,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,6,8,7,6,5,7,6,5,4,6,5,4,3,5,
    4,3,2,4,3,2,R
    
    That I play in a quadruple like feel. One, two, three, and, one,
    two, three, and, etc...
    
    Try that with different modes.  That will keep you busy for a very
    long time.
    
    Always do it with a metrenome!  Start slow to moderate and work
    your way up to fast or superfast.  You can play all day long without
    a metrenome and sure your fingers will start becoming agile as f*ck,
    but if you use a metrenome, not only will you develop your fingers,
    but your timing as well, plus you'll have a way of measuring yourself
    as you get better.  So make the most of your time and kill three
    birds with one stone!
    
    Good Luck!
    
    
    Mr. Ed...

    I have no idea what mode this is, but my teacher showed me this scald
    that can be started from any 6th string fret.  This example starts from
    F# on the low E string.
    
    --------------------------1-2-----    2 is played by middle finger
    ----------------------2-4---------    4 is pinky, etc.
    ----------------1-3-4-------------
    ----------1-3-4-------------------
    ----1-2-4-------------------------
    2-4-------------------------------
    
    Mike

    RE: -1
    
    What mode?  It would ne Ionian mode in any key, as it starts from the
    1st scale degree.
    
    Yo, scale dude and dudettes...take the Housholder advice...start
    using 3 note-per-string fingerings for your scales...makes life TONS
    easier! 
    
    Buckmeister, Housholder apprentice

RE: Buckmeister
    
>    Yo, scale dude and dudettes...take the Housholder advice...start
>    using 3 note-per-string fingerings for your scales...makes life TONS
>    easier! 
>    
>    Buckmeister, Housholder apprentice

What's a Housholder?  

I often finger as many notes as I can on a string because I'm better at 
shifting and stretching with the left hand than crossing strings with the 
right.  Is that the idea?  

In the lower positions, three notes per string could be quite a stretch.

Bob

    The idea of 3 notes per string is to let you use sweep picking - that
    is, as you move from one string to the next, you keep playing in the
    same direction, and don't play strict alternate picking. For example,
    if you're moving from the A string to the D string, you'd play two
    consecutive down strokes rather than a down stroke and an up stroke.
    
    By having an odd number of notes to a string, it ensures that you're
    always "heading in the right direction" when it comes to change
    strings. Though when you want to change direction, you have to have an
    even number of notes. And yes, down at the lower positions, it can be
    quite a stretch...
    
    Nick

    Another idea of 3 (or 4) notes per string is to maintain a certain
    finger momentum while going across the strings.  If you have 3 notes on
    the E, A, D, & G stings and then hit the B strings with 2 notes, your
    hand momemtum is going to be thrown, esp. if you have to resume a 3
    note pattern on the high E string.  So, basically the idea is to try
    and have the same number of notes on all the strings, wether it be 2,
    3, or 4 note groupings.  This goes for scales and arpessgios, and works
    just as well with alternate picking as it does with sweep picking. 
    
    BTW -- Housholder is Darren Housholder...the 22 year old wunderkind
    guitar player from Waltham who just took over George Lynch's place with
    Jeff Pilson.  This guy has a science down on warp-9 licks. 

    
    A pair of exercises I am currently suffering through that will help in
    finger independence are outlined below:
    
    1.  Triplet exercise
    
    The idea is to start on any fret of the E string and play a triplet
    pattern using fingers 1, 2  and 3 on consecutive frets.  Then go to the
    A string, D string, etc., then descend 3, 2, 1.  Then do the same but
    fingers 1, 2 and 4 (over four frets), then 2, 3 and 4 (over three
    frets), then 1, 3 and 4 (over four frets; in all cases dropping the
    fingers on the appropriate fret).  The idea is not to work out a
    particular scale but to get your fingers used to working in these
    combinations; the only simple three note pattern left out is that of
    two whole steps, which requires a stretch of five frets.  I found
    immediately on starting this exercise that some of these combinations I
    use quite rarely, as I can't play them as fast as others!
    
    2.  General Dexterity
    
    This exercise is done on any two adjacent strings.  Take a four fret
    stretch of the neck, and use fingers 1 and 3 on the lower string and
    fingers 2 and 4 on the upper.  Now play the pattern 1-->2-->3-->4 up
    the neck, then descend 4-->3-->2-->1.  Then try some other
    combinations, like 1-->3-->2-->1, etc.  This exercise can easily be
    expanded, i.e. fingers 1 and 4 on one string, 2 and 3 on the other,
    etc.  
     
    Both of these exercises will quickly reveal any weaknesses in your
    fingering abilities!!!  
    
    						
    							Brian

    My teacher showed me this blues pattern or simplified scale last night.
    It has a real bluesy sound and as in .12, it can be started from any 6th 
    string fret.  This example starts from F# on the low E string.
      
       .          . is the third fret 
    |1--4-        3 is played by ring finger
    |1--4-        4 is pinky, etc.
    |1-3--
    |1-3--
    |1-3--
    |1--4-    
    
    There's also some confusion around .12 now that I look at it, it should
    be:  (this example also starts from F# on the low E string)
      
       .          . is the third fret 
    |12----  2 is played by middle finger
    |-2-4--  4 is pinky, etc.
    |1-3-4-
    |1-3-4-
    |12-4--
    |-2-4--
    
    I use the one above as a warm up.  After coming back up, I end the
    scale on the next step up (in this case fret 3).  Keep going to you
    work your way up the guitar neck, and then back down if you'd like.
    
    Mike

    >My teacher showed me this blues pattern or simplified scale last night.
    >It has a real bluesy sound and as in .12, it can be started from any 6th 
    >string fret.  This example starts from F# on the low E string.
      
    >    .          . is the third fret 
    > |1--4-        3 is played by ring finger
    > |1--4-        4 is pinky, etc.
    > |1-3--
    > |1-3--
    > |1-3--
    > |1--4-    
    
    If you wanna make that scale *real* bluesy, try this slightly altered
    fingering (I added the b5 passing tone in both octaves):
    
    -1-34-
    -1-34-
    -1-34-
    -1-3--
    -123--
    -1--4
    
    
    >There's also some confusion around .12 now that I look at it, it should
    >be:  (this example also starts from F# on the low E string)
    >  
    >    .          . is the third fret 
    > |12----  2 is played by middle finger
    > |-2-4--  4 is pinky, etc.
    > |1-3-4-
    > |1-3-4-
    > |12-4--
    > |-2-4--
    
    I think you goofed on this?  Your F# major scale (Ionian mode) has a
    G natural (4th finger on the d string) and a C natural (4th finger
    on the G string).   Did you mean to write it like this?:
    
       .          . is the third fret 
    |12----  2 is played by middle finger
    |-2-4--  3 is ring finger
    |1-34--  4 is pinky, etc.
    |1-34--
    |12-4--
    |-2-4--
    
    

Dammit !  Just when I think I've got it straight...

Someone please tell me the difference between the Ionian and Mixolydian modes.
I've been calling what Buck just called an Ionian Mode F#Maj a Mixolydian
mode F#maj.

Where am I going wrong ?  Explain please...

jc

    Yeah Buck, that was a typo.  The 3 and 4 fingerings should be first
    position.
    
    Mike

    The Mixolydian mode is built off the 5th degree of any Major scale.
    It's inherent qualities are in fact a Major Scale with a flatted 7th
    degree.  This is the chord scale for a Dominant 7 chord.  For secondary
    dominant chords, use Lydian b7 mode, which is like taking a major scale
    and sharping the 4th degree, while flatting the 7th.
    
    Ionian mode, again, is just the straight major scale, played from the
    first scale degree to the octave, without altered tensions.
    
    Have fun,
    Buck

    
    I think I'm with you Buck....
                   
    So if you were playing in A Ionian (A B C# D E F# G# A) and wanted to 
    go to Mixolydian mode, you would start playing the major scale from
    the 5th degree, (ie E ) with a flattened 7th degree (ie E F# G# A 
    B C# D E).
         ^                            
     now flattened (was D#)
     
    Is that right ?

    It's even simpler than that:  If you're in A Ionian and you want to go
    to A Mixolydian, just use the E as the root of your scales. You don't
    change any notes at all.
    
    Will

    -1
    
    ???  I don't think so.
    
    If I was in A Ionian, and wanted to play A mixolydian, I would change
    the G# to a G natural.  If I used your example, and used the "E" as
    the root of my scale, I would then be playing E Mixolydian!

    re -1
    
    
    Yeah you're right, notational mixup, sorry about that...
    
    Will

    Hello. My name is Jonathan Kidd from Digital Reading (UK). I am writing
    this is the hope that some of you folks especially in the US or Canada
    can help me acquire a certain guitar book.
    
    The book is entitled " The art of ragtime guitar ", author Richard
    Saslow, alias Straw Dog, publisher Green Note Music Publications, PO
    Box 4187, Berkeley CA 94704, ISBN 0-912910-04-6.  The book was
    published in 1974 so it may now be out of print. I have tried
    bookstores in London and Dublin, no luck. 
    
    If anyone knows the book, has a copy, has access to a copy, or can even
    sell me a copy, please let me know.  I would like to acquire it.
    
    If you wish to respond to me direct, I can be reached on
    nm%rdgeng::kidd.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Jonathan.

    I seem to be getting at a point where I'm still learning a lot, but not
    improving due to lack of practice.  Admittedly, having 4 kids can take
    away from your practice time ;-)  The daily routines of life can really
    take away from guitar practice time.
    
    How do you folks MAKE time to practice?

    Mike,
    
    The only thing that has ever worked for me was to set aside a specific
    time and *stick* to it.  My time ended up being first thing in the
    morning.  I still don't do it every day, amazing how getting out of bed
    on time is so difficult  8^)  8^)  I roll out of bed, shower and go
    downstairs and plug into my headphone amp and dork away for an hour
    or so. 
    
    Also "practice" takes many forms, including a lot of time spent
    learning songs because the band needs fresh material, or maybe I
    screwed up a tune on the gig again, and not so much time working on
    straight chops exercises, etc.  Although learning new songs often helps
    your chops since many songs require you to play something you may never
    have had to before.
    
    I've found that my kids won't let me practice if they're around.  They
    want to play the guitar, or they will interrupt me to get them
    something to eat or drink, etc. Then my wife wants to spend time with
    me, too, sheesh....8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    Like you said in your last line, you have to *make* the time.
    
    						Brian

    
    I'm no expert but one thing I will say is to maybe make a concious
    decision to *practice*. -1 mentioned that he got up in the morning 
    and 'dork'ed away for an hour or so (by the way in England 'dorking'
    is usually something you do with a member of the opposite sex :*)
     Anyway back to the point, I have found that I have to make an
    effort to actually practice and improve, to me *practice* is where 
    you work on something you want to be able to do (sweep picking,
    blistering runz etc) or you learn something new......the other
    type is non-pratice where you spend your time fiddling, noodling,
    dorking whatever you want to call it, where basically you are just
    running through stuff you already know.....I don't have a problem
    with this second use of time but if you are limited to the time
    you get playing the guitar I believe that actually making sure that
    you *practice* will make the best use of your guitar hour.
    
    	Are you married? How about maybe explaining to your wife that you
    would really like to spend an uninterrupted hour a day practicing, that
    it will make you a warmer more caring individual, do some sort of deal
    with her, if she keeps the kids out of your hair for an hour you will 
    do the same for her afterwards...or maybe take care of them all day
    on Sunday or something like that...........just don't welch on the 
    agreement or you'll be in big trouble! (I know this!!!!)
    
    JMHO
    
    J.

>    	Are you married? How about maybe explaining to your wife that you
    
    You bet!  It would be torture raising 4 kids by yourself! ;-)
    
    One thing I started doing over the weekend was to get the kids involved
    in my practice, without them knowing it.  How you ask?  Well they have
    a few Raffi tapes and my wife bought me one of his songbooks last
    Christmas.  I'm helping them learn the songs and helping myself at the
    same time.  The best part is when I say, "Okay kids, Daddy is going to
    do this rock 'n' roll style this time!" ;-)
    
    I also had a talk with my wife last night and told her about my
    situation.  We'll see what happens...
    
    Mike

   Practicing every day is almost a must. Everytime I play, no matter how
  long, I always learn something for the time spent.

   The support of your spouse is invaluable.  I find that it helps the 
 situation by trying to practice while she's doing something like the dishes 
 after dinner, talking on the phone, etc. You won't be taking time away from 
 'us', a *most important* concept.

   My wife supports me by actually reminding me to practice!

   Lovely woman, you can't have her. :-)


      - Bob

    
    	For the last year or so I spent all my music time adding new
    	tunes to my act (up to 120 now) that I hardly ever practiced
    	lead playing.  By far, the big shocker was after spending 6
    	months doing drum patterns, bass, keys, rhythm, and vocal
    	harmonies for my tapes, I was suddenly put into a "gig this
    	weekend" situation.  I was so nervous about the whole thing
    	that I never thought about my leads.  So there I was, on stage
    	playing these tunes where I left places for my solos and it
    	suddenly hit me that I hadn't played a darn solo in 6 months!!!
    	
    	Talk about zero chops!!  My fingers were never so stiff!!
    
    	About a month ago I got into playing virtually every day.  My
    	guitar never got to the case - all I had to do was pick it up.
    	That makes a big difference to me.  But I sure don't practice
    	like alot of you guys.  Just never had it in me I guess.
    
    	Wish I did tho.
    
    	Tom
    

    re: making time to practice
    
    Something that you should consider is how bad you really want to
    improve.  If that desire is really high then you should be willing
    to sacrifice something (e.g. sleep) in order to get the time that you
    need to spend with the axe.  
    
    Another thing that you need to do is learn to use the time available
    effectively.  This means don't waste time running over stuff that
    you can already play perfectly, except for warmup things like
    scales or some tune that you use for warmup.  In order to grow, each
    day you must push yourself farther, or in a new direction.
    
    Some good guidelines:
    
    	warmup - 5-10 minutes. scales, fingering exercises, chord patterns,
    	an etude, whatever you do to warmup.  The important thing here is
    	to do the same thing every time.  This lets your brain 'click' in
    	to the routine.  It also helps to do it at the same time every day.
    	I've found that when I'm practicing every morning at the same time
    	I'll often awake with the patterns in my dream.  Your mind is
    	already warming up for you.
    
    	etude -  20-30 minutes this should be a piece that contains new 
    	material you're attempting to learn/master.  
    	You might even wish to try reading and mastering trumpet/fiddle 
    	etudes.  They will really work both your reading and fretting skills.
    
    	performance 20 -30 minutes - a piece or a couple of pieces that
    	you're getting 'contest' ready.  These are complete arrangements
    	of tunes that you're really polishing.
    
    	individual study - woodshedding - 20-30 minutes.  These are things
    	like new changes, speed work, different styles.  Pick an area that
    	you wish to improve and work on it every day.  
    
    	Do this consistently, 6 days a week.  Make it a HIGH priority.
    	Keep it up for three - six months and then take a week off.  Then
    	crank it up again.  Sounds like no fun?  You might be surprised
    	how much fun it is to watch yourself grow.  
    
    	

    Like a few back said, I go for the morning for *real* practice i.e.
    drills, ear training, reading, copping licks.  My ear is best then (not
    fatigued) and any day that starts with music is a good day.
    
    Noodling I do whenever I'm watching the news or a Celtics game on the
    tube.

    Been a long time since I've played ANY strings and would like to get
    back into it. I played for 15 years, and haven't touched a guitar for
    the past four years...what a big mistake that was! It's amazing
    how much you forget...and now I'm paying for it big time.
    
       
    I just bought a cheapo Fender Bullet last week and have been 
    bashing the scales out whenever I'm home for half hour or more, such as 
    1st thing A.M., an hour or so when I get home from work, and an hour or two 
    after dinner. Saturday/Sunday mornings have been 4 hour sessions 
    (I'm up with th birds). All I can say is it feels great. 
    
    It was mentioned in this note, and I agree with it 100%. Watch it!
    I have been backing off when fatigue sets in...taking a 10-15 minute break,
    and back to it! A friend of mine played a good 2-4 hours a day for many
    years. He then went to school full time for music, and started playing 
    6-8 hours a day. That ended two weeks later when he wound up in a cast
    from tendenitous...never to be able to play again without it returning.
    He now teaches, instead of what he wanted to do...perform!
    
    I've been learning some songs off the radio and what I can remember by 
    ear, or determining the songs key, and just solo over them. It has been 
    fun but very frustrating knowing that they were so well ingraved at one 
    time. There have always been those few songs you never forget though, and in
    my last four years of not playing, would always attempt them whenever
    I came across someone with a guitar in there hand. You know, songs like
    "Over The Hills and Far Away"-LZ, and "I'de Love To Change The
    World"-10YA.
    
    My thought on practicing are, practice long and hard, but build up to it.
    Also practice for perfection. Practicing slopping, and you learn sloppy
    technique that will be hard to overcome later on down the road, when
    you 1st notice it rolling off a 16 track at $50 per hour.
    Something I also learned many years ago, PRACTICE CLEAN AND EFFECT FREE. 
    I've run into so many musicians who sounded great behind a wall of 
    thundering distortion, but hand them a clean machine and they sounded like
    untalented beginners. If it sounds good clean, it will sound good in 
    effect mode. 
    
    I must say that some of my best practices came from those weekend jams
    where all your budies get together on a drinken weekend night, and jam
    till the sun comes up. 
    
    My future plans...keep practicing. Who knows, maybe someday someone
    will listen to me...my guitar playing that is.
    
    Dave' former Woodrose artist
    

    See topic 420.
    
      Rgds, Lv

>    Can someone explain what's the different between key and modes?
    
    I thought I'd give the simple answer:
    
    Say your key signature says no sharps or flats.
    
    Now play 7 scales using only white notes, start the file scale
    at C, the 2nd at D, etc.
    
    You have just played 7 different "modes".
    
    When you start the scale at C you get a "major scale" which is
    also known as the Aeolian mode, when you start it at F you're
    playing the Lydian mode, and when you start it at G you're
    playing in the Mixolydian mode.
    
    The most straightforward application of the modes is that if you're
    playing a I-IV-V in the key of "C", you would play in Aeolian mode
    over the C chord, in Lydian mode over the F chord, and in Mixolydian
    mode over the G.
    
    This is really an oversimplification, but hopefully you can get
    the generally idea of what a mode is from this.
    

    
    >When you start the scale at C you get a "major scale" which is
    >also known as the Aeolian mode
    
    Nit alert -- Aeolian mode is built off the *6th* degree, not the 1st!
    You mean Ionian mode.
    

    
    	re - db, when you start at C, you get the Ionian mode...
    	Starting at A gives the Aeolian mode (Am).
    
    	Right?  
    
    	Tom
    

    
    	Beat me to it, Buck!  ;^)
    

    
    Shouldn't all this talk about ions be in the physics conference?
    

    Oops... that's what you get when you write things in a hurry.
    
    	db

    What means do you use to know which mode is which ?  Or do I just have
    to learn then :-(
    
    tmp

Music is a world of beautiful patterns. Some of these you notice
because you hear them with your ears. Others you notice because
you take the time to do some analysis....


The modes laid out in a circle of fifths like the keys. Using
C Major as the base:


Ionian (C): 	no "flats"
Mixolydian (G):	flat 7 (the F, normally sharp in G Major isn't here)
Dorian (D):	flat 3, flat 7 (F and C, normally sharp in D major...)
Aeolian (A):	flat 6, flat 3, flat 7 (F, C, G...)
Phrygian (E):	flat 2, 6, 3, 7 (F, C, G, D...)
Locrian (B):	flat 5, 2, 6, 3, 7 (F, C, G, D, A...)

Lydian (F):	you could say flat 1, but that's silly
		since 1, 2, 3,   5, 6, and 7 are flat, we can think
		of this as having a raised 4th