Please help..I've got too much info and I'm confused

Hi

I am still earning new songs and my problem is nearly the same as yours.

I try to learn too many at one time, this means I am forever sitting with my lyrics book with chords that I have made up. I either forget lyrics or the chords, so the book helps.

But I do know if I took my time and no matter how boring it got, I should learn one song at a time, learn the chords and the structure and the lyrics of the song.

It does look better if yer not reading it from a book when playing for people, but it doesnt mean you will sound any worse while reading from a book.

If I were you, I would learn one song, consentrate on that song and maybe learn scales as well, but not all at one time. Spend an hour doing the song and an hour doing scales and chords.

Ken

Jace,

I do know how you feel, as I was in your shoes once!  Although you may have an abundance amount of materials, I would suggest that you put them aside and start learning your basics first!  There are a few basic things you will need to start building your foundation.  They are:

1. Learn Major Chords - These are A, E, D, C, F, and G. There are also some minor chords you can add later such as Dm, Em, Am.

2. Once you can finger each chord and hear them clearly when you strum, then you're ready to do progressions.  A progression is an ability to successfully change from one chord to another and back within a set.

3. Learn simple songs that contain progressions with no more than three or four major chords.  Learn these first, before you start thinking about Stairway to Heaven. 

4. Set aside at least 30 minutes each day to practice.  Practice does make perfect.  However, it's also good to take a break once in a while too.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Kahuna

I'm sure others will provide more feedback, but try to keep things as simple and fun as possible.

hey hey!

i would also suggest 2 or 3 chord songs to start. but i'd say try to practice 30 minutes at a time 3 or 4 times a day. as for scales, it should be greek... most of the scales in use today were greek in origin lol.

  learn the blues scale and pentatonic they are moveable the same pattern fits any key. also you might think about learning some "pattern" songs... lots of country has the same 3 chord progression. louie, louie

wild thing, twist & shout, la bamba, and many more are the same basic 3 chord progression. 12 bar blues covers lots of ground... a 12 measure repeating pattern with also 3 chords.

hope this is of some help...

peace, slim

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>Jace wrote on Fri, 06 October 2006 00&#58;22</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Thanks Ken. I found a site that showed 3 scales it said I should learn. I printed off the first one. All it says is Major Scale but I don't know what letter it is (a c g etc.)so I'm a might confused. But I'll take your advice and work on one song and scale at a time.

Jace
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Theory is hard to get, but once you get it, it will make your playing a ton easier.

Here's the deal with major scales, and how they relate to the fretboard.   

You should already know that each fret will raise or lower the tone a "half-tone (or step)."   If you skip a fret, you play a whole tone.   Play an open E, then fret the 1st fret on the E string, and you're playing F (a half tone up from E), one more fret is F# (a whole tone up from E), one more, G, etc.

A major scale is made up of the following steps.   "Root" is the first note of the scale, and indicates which scale it is.  If you start on the A (5th) string, you're playing A major, etc.

root, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step

So sit down with your guitar, and fret the following on any sting.

Open, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12

Congratulations, you've just played a major scale.  Notice that from root, it's whole, whole, half, etc...

The key relationship you want to make is between the steps, and where you fret.   Try this (it's easier if your guitar has a cutaway).  Pick any note on the fretboard as root, and then play the whole, whole, half, whole patern from there.  Try it from C (third fret on the A string).  C  Major scale, just like that.

So now you have one pattern for playing a major scale.  But there are other patterns, too, which is what you are probably looking at.  It doesn't give you a key because it will be the same pattern no matter what key you are playing in.    Because it's the same pattern no matter what scale it is, you can play that pattern from (almost) anywhere, and it will be a major scale.   You can play scales and not even know what key they are in, just by using that scale pattern.

So why are scales important?  Because every song is in some key, and if you can play in that key, you can figure out the song.  Scales are the root of chords as well.  A major chord is the root, third, and fifth note of it's associated major scale.  All of the modes you have heard about are based on major scales.   

Theory will make you a better player.  It's one thing to figure out which notes should be played, but understanding *why* you play those notes, and not others is a huge step.

Good luck, and practice a lot.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>Jace wrote on Fri, 06 October 2006 20&#58;53</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
I tried taking lessons at three different times in my life and stopped for various reasons, but it was really clear that I just can't seem to learn to read music. I will try to learn theory and see if I can gain a better understanding.
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Don't get all wrapped up trying to learn to read standard notation.  It's not necessary to understanding theory, although it does help a little, in that it's a good tool to help you visualize things when it comes to chord formation.   For most modern music,  it's overkill.

Instead of standard notation,  as far as scales are concerned, just use the note's place in the scale.

I   II    III   IV     V    VI   VII     Where I is the root,  II is the second note, etc.   This will make a little more sense once you understand what the various scales are and how they are derived.

The important thing to remember (and by that, I mean *memorize*) is the interval between the notes of the scale.   Between I and II is a whole step.   Between II  and III is a whole step.  Between III  and IV is a half step, etc...   That is easy to translate to the fretboard because each fret is a half step from the one above it.   You can see that by walking down a single string as I discussed above.

A lot of people get really intimidated by all the possible scales.   There are 12 notes in the chromatic scale, and each one of them can be the root for a major scale, a variety of minor scales, and a bunch of other types of scales as well (pentatonics, etc).  That sounds like a whole lot, but it really isn't if you understand that you don't need to memorize each scale on it's own (leave that for horn players <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile"> ), just the interval patern for it.   If you can memorize the interval patern for a natural minor scale, you can play all of the natural minors, because it's the same no matter where you start, and it translates to the fretboard really easily.

So get used to thinking of scales and chords in terms of I  II  III, etc, and the intervals between them.   Then you can learn things like

A major chord is the  I  III   and  V of it's associated major scale.    C major is C, E and G.   I   III   V.

A huge amount of modern music is derived from the I   IV  and V chords for the key it is in.    Someone else mentioned learning to play  a "12 bar blues."   Great idea.    That's a 12 bar I    IV    V pattern.      If you were playing in C,  you would play   C  F and G (I   IV   V).    If you were in E  you would play  E   A  and B  (I   IV   V),   etc.    And so on.   

I'm certain that one of the books you own has the "Circle of 5ths" in it.  In reality, that is a "Circle of intervals,"  and is a powerfull tool for understanding this stuff.   I'd like to get it inlayed into all my guitars, and have gone so far as to consider a tattoo of it on my arm.    <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy">

Playing scales will help improve your technique.   *Understanding* them will help improve your musicianship.

I think this forum aught to have a "Theory" section to discuss this kind of stuff.

Good luck.   And practice a lot.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>Jace wrote on Sun, 08 October 2006 09&#58;38</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Thank you so very much. I must admit, I'm still confused but I will print this off and see if it starts to become clear.

I saw something for sale on eBay that is a big circle that you are supposed to turn the dial and it tells you all the scales and things. They were asking about 9 dollars for it. Do you think this is of any benefit to me or am I too new to make sense or use out of it?

Thanks again so much. That was so nice of you to go into such detail to help me.

Jace
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That would be the circle of 5ths, although I don't know that I'd pay nine bucks for one.

Here's one for free.

<a href="http://www.cyberfret.com/theory/circle-of-5ths-major/index.php" target="_blank"> http://www.cyberfret.com/theory/circle- … or/index.p hp</a>

Here is a couple of ways in which you might use it the next time you sit down to practice.

You're sitting around trying to figure out how to play a song you've got looped on the radio.  You figure out that if you strike the A string,  you get a tone that plays pretty well throughout the song.  This is a good indicator that the song is in the key of A.

So now what?   We know that %90 of modern music is based on the I  IV   and V notes of a scale.   We know we're in A.  So what are the IV and V of A?   

Take a look at the circle, and find 'A'.     Working clockwise, the note immediately behind any note on the circle is the IV of that scale.  So we now know the IV of  A major is  'D'.   The note immediately in front of a note on the circle is the V of that scale, so we know the V of A  is E.  So you can then play your song with A D and E chords.   

Pick a couple of songs in your song book, and you'll find this pattern repeating itself over and over and over again.   Put some songs on loop, figure out what key they are in by finding that one note that goes well throughout the song, and find the IV and V.     That's kind of fun, and educational as well.

Another way that the circle is incredibly usefull is in transposing a song from one key to another.  Lets say that your song in A isn't good for you to sing as it's too low,  and you want to sing it a little bit higher.  Say an interval of a third higher.

On the circle, the note that is four notes in front of another is the third of that scale.  So moving up a third would mean we are now playing in C#.   So what are the I  IV  and V of C#?    Use the circle and find out, and you can play your song in a whole new key.

Another good use?   Figureing out where to start to solo, if you're into that kind of thing.   Each major scale has an associated "harmonic minor" scale associated with it (don't worry about that just yet, just know that it is so) and that is a great key in which to solo over major keys.  You can know which harmonic goes with which major by knowing the VI of the major scale.   On the circle,  the VI of a given scale is the note three places in front of it.  So if you were jamming in C, and someone wanted a solo,  you could use the circle to figure out that the natural harmonic minor of C is A, and play your solo using the A minor scale (because it's just another pattern, too),  and you're shredding like a pro.

Don't expect to learn all this stuff in a night.   It can get complicated, and there are people that carry PhDs in the stuff.   The best way to learn it is to put it to use in your practice sessions.  Play a chord, and then say, "I'm gonna play the IV of that scale" and use the circle to find it.   

The key to all of it is that it is *all* based on scales.  Every bit of it.   So practice them, and memorize those intervals.   Whole whole half whole whole whole whole half.