[Robin Nahum]

I am learning jazz and this requires a reasonable knowledge of theory.

Comping

Knowing how chords are built and how chords can substitute for each other is essential to playing rhythm guitar in a way that keeps moving and sounds interesting - as opposed to playing a C chord 13 times when you see C13.

Soloing

Prerequisites for good soloing include being able to study the chords in a chart to work out the tone centres and knowing what scales will work over them.

RN

[Dave]

Being a copy guitarist is one thing. Understanding musical theory is another. You need to understand scales, modal relationships, chord construction, etc. Once you learn to recognize that a certain solo is moving through combinations of the root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and the major/minor variations of those and can hear the changes, you enter the realm of solo creation from a standpoint of mental understanding. Learning scales is a major ste forward in creative soloing. You will make far few "hunting" mistakes during a free form solo if you have a mental picture of the scale on the neck. If you stay within the scale, any note is musically correct and you won't hit a dissonant note.

It's perfectly fine to just learn from tabs and copy other people. You can create your own work from that base. But, to develop your own style, you need to understand the mechanics of music. Just like there are 3 finger guitar players and there are 4 finger guitar players, there are musically trained and non musically trained players. You can learn all this in a few months of reading a theory book and getting it down in your head. Then, you will see your musicality expand. A good book for this is "Total Guitar". available from Barnes and Nobles.

[Stevis]

R9, on 09 June 2008 - 10:42 AM, said:

I just made something in Excel that helped me apply patterns to the guitar's neck...it's based on where the root is. So, as long as you know where the root is and you play a specific pattern, you're in that key. If you have Excel and want it, send me a pm with your email.

Hey R9,

I was hoping that you might be open to share your Excel database with me. I was particulary intrigued as you noted that it helps you "see patterns" in the chord progressions/changes, which is sort of how I approach playing the bass.

I am trying to work on my guitar playing and thought your file might be a big help. I tried PMing you but the system won't let it go through (says you can't receive any new messages).

Thanks,
Steve

[Maskanda]

Stevis, on 13 July 2012 - 12:06 AM, said:

Hey R9,

I was hoping that you might be open to share your Excel database with me. I was particulary intrigued as you noted that it helps you "see patterns" in the chord progressions/changes, which is sort of how I approach playing the bass.

I am trying to work on my guitar playing and thought your file might be a big help. I tried PMing you but the system won't let it go through (says you can't receive any new messages).

Thanks,
Steve

Stevis, check this scale/chord generator out. You can select bass etc. Whenever I get stuck (a pretty regular thing) i revert to this. The whole site is actually awesome but the scale/chord generator is the best I have found on the web

[Sgt.]

Geetar_Axl, on 08 June 2008 - 09:58 PM, said:

Just need to know what I should know.

Try 'Play Guitar In 10 Easy Lessons' by Jon Buck. It covers all the basic theory necessary that a guitar player will need to play with other musician's in a band, and better yet be able to understand what's going on. It is useful for the beginner to the advanced member that wants to relearn the basics. (It's as not boring as most of the Hal Leonard or Mel Bay stuff!)

[trelf]

I know a fair bit but I tend to not think about it much when playing guitar? I tend to apply it more when writing parts out for other people.

Who knows

It must just be an automatic thing to forget everything once somebody starts playing a 12 bar!

[vangoghsear]

I know enough to know I don't know enough.

I know a few scales, major, minor, pentatonic, blues. I know that some notes are better to bend than others. I know of modes, but have not been overly successful in employing them (hence my first statement). I can improvise over chord forms and/or using scales and I know that if I am playing in a scale at one position on the neck that there is a mode that uses the same notes, but sounds better over different chords.

[Erwin]

3 years classical guitar + master class with a Segovia student! Learn the techniques in tremolo, harmonics, arpeggio, basic notations, etc...

[the guitar learner]

scales and modes, it's a great idea in improving guitar learning
just shared on my blog the guitar learner: Take A Walk Around On Scales and Modes Chart