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Got the Blues


Kyler Patrick

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Rabs, just got done finally watching that video you posted.

I like how he said the scale that starts up the 15 to 12th frets is the sad scale, and if you slide down three frets and play the same thing, it is a happy scale?

Is this because of the way our brains interpret the notes?

Kind of confusing, but I am going to practice that this weekend.

I do not have time to play at all during the work week :(

 

Kyler, I will have to check out the Chromatic scale one too.

This is all pretty interesting.

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Rabs, just got done finally watching that video you posted.

I like how he said the scale that starts up the 15 to 12th frets is the sad scale, and if you slide down three frets and play the same thing, it is a happy scale?

Is this because of the way our brains interpret the notes?

Kind of confusing, but I am going to practice that this weekend.

I do not have time to play at all during the work week :(

 

Kyler, I will have to check out the Chromatic scale one too.

This is all pretty interesting.

Haha.. yes its just a saying cos one sounds more sad than the other which is brighter and just feels happier...

 

And yes it is all a bit much at first, but thats what this is about. Becoming familiar with the fretboard and all of this helps.. One day (as it did for me quite recently) it will just click and you will say to yourself.. man thats so easy why didnt I see that before ;) all good fun though.. and whats the old saying, its not the destination that counts, its the journey we take to get there.. [thumbup]

 

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Rabs, just got done finally watching that video you posted.

I like how he said the scale that starts up the 15 to 12th frets is the sad scale, and if you slide down three frets and play the same thing, it is a happy scale?

Is this because of the way our brains interpret the notes?

Kind of confusing, but I am going to practice that this weekend.

I do not have time to play at all during the work week :(

 

Kyler, I will have to check out the Chromatic scale one too.

This is all pretty interesting.

 

It really is! Before I never cared much for scales at all. I just played random songs and thought I could play like those guys, but whenever I started writing, I would find myself stuck on the first note. Now that I'm learning more about scales, Guitar playing, I'm sure, will become more fun and entertaining! [thumbup]

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Hey y'all, feels great to be back in the Gibson Lounge! [biggrin] I've already got a question for y'all which I hope will get a bunch of answers. The topic= Blues. So I really wanna be playing like SRV someday soon! What's the key to becoming a great Blues guitarist??? Are there need-to-know scales, chords etc. Thanks for your time and, again, it's great to be back in the Gibson Lounge!!! [thumbup][biggrin][thumbup][biggrin]

 

Can't match SRV and to be a great blues player you got to have your own style, Go for it.Then loan me some money !!

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All kidding aside, I think "kids" can play with certain scales and potentially incredible virtuosity.

 

I'm not sure they can play blues even if brought up in the environment of lots of blues played on various machines that make noise.

 

Too, one must needs define "blues" in terms of music. But then, I get awfully technical with definitions and tend to reject a technical mentality when it comes to playing blues my way... and just play.

 

I don't want that last to sound egotistical. I just think that, for example, BB sounded better the older he got, and at times the fewer notes he played with less speed. One needs to ask why, and how, and how to achieve sophistication rather than technical skills.

 

When it's you, the chords and scales aren't there, just the music.

 

m

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All kidding aside, I think "kids" can play with certain scales and potentially incredible virtuosity.

 

I'm not sure they can play blues even if brought up in the environment of lots of blues played on various machines that make noise.

 

Too, one must needs define "blues" in terms of music. But then, I get awfully technical with definitions and tend to reject a technical mentality when it comes to playing blues my way... and just play.

 

I don't want that last to sound egotistical. I just think that, for example, BB sounded better the older he got, and at times the fewer notes he played with less speed. One needs to ask why, and how, and how to achieve sophistication rather than technical skills.

 

When it's you, the chords and scales aren't there, just the music.

 

m

 

No dissrespect but I think you do get way too caught up in labels.. The original poster just wants to increase his musical vocabulary a bit and has (like me) just been learning bits of songs over the years but gets stuck when writing his own songs and coming up with his own solos (from what he said, correct me if im wrong). :)

 

Theres nothing wrong with learning a few little techniques, its what you do with it once youve learned it that counts...

 

In fact alot of people will tell you that the pentatonic scale is all they ever learned as it gave them what they needed to take it further on their own.

 

And sure I love BB King and his playing and agree that sometimes less is more.. But hey we all have our own styles and do what we think sounds good.. Some blues players like Gary Moore and Jeff Healey are really fast yet still have soul.. Anyone can play what they think is the blues, if anyone else actually agrees thats another matter :) but theres few hard and fast rules in music... Do what sounds good to you, thats what I think anyway :)

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Rabs...

 

Actually you're saying the same thing roughly that I'm saying.

 

My only point really is that if one thinks of doing a lead using a give scale, that's exactly what he or she will do - playing a lead while thinking of a scale.

 

When that scale is thought of about as much as one's belly button while one is playing, then they're playing from inside rather than what they think they should play.

 

There are a lot of very talented musicians who play various sorts of music - and various sorts of "blues."

 

I'm just pointing out what someone else did earlier: If you work to sound like SRV, or BB, or Lightning Hopkins, you ain't playing blues, you're playing to sound like SRV or BB or Lightning Hopkins.

 

It's in the mind. It's zen.

 

Frankly I think sometimes that "we" guitar players - and other musicians of all styles - sometimes are so tied into technical excellence that we're playing "technical excellence" rather than music.

 

To me, that's especially a difficulty when one is playing an improvisational type of music such as blues or jazz or flamenco or bluegrass or... Have we written notes on paper in our head that must be followed? Or are we flowing with the music with what is sounding in our heads?

 

Believe me, I'm more than aware that humans have different modes of learning 'cuz our brains aren't exactly hardwired the same. So I'm up for folks taking whatever mode of learning new skills or concepts in whatever way best suits them.

 

OTOH... performance ain't learning, it's an exposition of what we've learned that shows the degree

. So... have we learned scales or have we learned blues? Learning techniques is wonderful - but once learned, are we playing techniques or music?

 

Yeah - I'm really up for definitions as a guy who makes a living as a writer - and yet definitions beyond definition as an "artist" of various sorts.

 

Bottom line? You don't really play music. It plays you.

 

m

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Mu dog is dead and I feel like dying too...I had him since he was a pup and a truck just ran over it...

 

Pick guitar and weeeeeep

 

I think that's country music, isn't it? [lol] At least according to David Allan Coe.

(Fast forward to 1:20 if you don't get the reference and you'll see what I mean)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9coh7mBHwr4

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Bottom line? You don't really play music. It plays you.

 

m

Yeah I agree on that totally.. When im in "The Zone" and the whole world drops away and theres nothing else but me and the music it doesnt matter what im playing, its what im feeling..

 

But I too like alot of people was disstracted from playing by life from like my mid twenties.. And when I finally got back to really playing again years later my tastes and expectations changed.. Suddenly I found that what I was happy with a few years ago I no longer thought was that good as I had just been learning stuff I liked and never really challanging myself..

 

What I wouldnt give to be in your shoes and to have been able to play guitar for a living [thumbup] .. But it just didnt work out that way.. So I find myself wanting to just increase my playing to a level that I will hopefully be happier with.. And its not so much about perfection.. Im a loud rocker, we dont care about that (mostly :)) its more about reaching the next note and sometimes getting stuck which after all these years of playing gets really frustrating..

 

I dont have the time now to just let it happen naturally so I have found that just learning a few small things (which being on this forum has helped alot, so thanks to everyone for that :)) has made my playing more stable as such and opened the door for me to be more expressive and get closer to the sound thats in my head.

 

Theres no magic bullet when it comes to learning.. but hopefully just a few pointers in the right direction helps.

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Rabs...

 

I'm only a weekend warrior and occasional teacher with a cupla students who did either make music their living or... became also weekend warriors. Nowadays my work schedule keeps me down to perhaps a half dozen benefit thingies a year. And, alas, my own biggest weakness in anything I've wished to learn is that my only talent in life is a willingness to work hard to develop skill - which then is inevitably somewhat lacking in "talent" that makes skill more than skill.

 

Learning is an interesting study. Each of us does learn differently. The trick is to take on a number of modes of learning that will best get us to understand the material, not just parrot it.

 

In fact, the word "education" comes from the Latin root, "to lead out from." That's a big difference from "to cram into" that so often is what formal training can bring. Note I said "so often," not "always."

 

The last thing I'd care to do is to discourage anyone from seeking to learn almost anything. The difficulty comes in arts of any sort where the mode of learning spills over into a mode of performance that is focused on technique rather than expression. Ditto shooting sports, writing, painting, acting, martial arts or ceramics.

 

m

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