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ProoN
Enthusiast



Registered: 03/27/06
Posts: 199
Loc: California, Colorado, Michigan
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Help with music theory (Video included)
#23880927 - 11/30/16 08:27 AM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is kind of a random post for me, I lurk most of the time on here.
I've been playing guitar for something like 18 years, though don't really count the first few because it wasn't until later that I actually got into it and *actively* tried to learn instead of just playing like a drunken monkey.
I'm okay. Self-taught, have never taken a one on one lesson but have watched a lot of instructional videos and such. Can play chords, string skip, legato, staccato/alternate picking, sweeps/arpeggios, taps. But I have absolutely no knowledge of music theory or anything at all.
Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually.
That's all I know, though couldn't tell you which strings are which by ear, and that, I think, is what I'm lacking. I'm really strict as far as clarity goes, making sure every note is hit and sounds how I *want* I to sound.
But I need to learn the absolute fundamentals and work my way up. Devolve to evolve kinda thing. If anyone has any suggestions on where to start, *do* let me know.
Including an old clip here for the hell of it. Mostly shredding but I love playing cleaner, bluesey stuff too. My alternate picking has significantly improved all around since these were taken too. Paul Gilbert, man. Such a humble motherfucker too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHY9rIfjUwb/
-------------------- A human being is part of a whole, called by us, the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
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Electric Wizard21
Master


Registered: 04/25/16
Posts: 905
Loc: Russia
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Help with music theory (Video included) [Re: ProoN]
#23889747 - 12/03/16 06:24 AM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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So you're telling me you have no clue about scales yet you manage to play like this? Although in the clip it didn't sound like it was in a particular scale...might have been but I haven't been playing as long as you.
I've read and heard of many people managing to play guitar with no knowledge and it astounds me that they continue to play. It's kind of an insult to music and just playing an instrument in general.
First things first, what do you know? Do you know note positions? Key? Scales? Do you know about relative keys? Learn the notes of the fret board first, as to establish the key you want to play in.
-------------------- I'm sick of all you hypocrites Holding me at bay And I don't need your sympathy To get me through the day Seasons change and so can I Hold on boy, no time to cry Untie these strings, I'm climbing down I won't let them push me away
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ProoN
Enthusiast



Registered: 03/27/06
Posts: 199
Loc: California, Colorado, Michigan
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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That's what I mean. I grew up learning songs -- rhythms and solos, just not the fundamentals. ..at all. I learned to read tabalature pretty young at that's basically the end of it. Each line represents a string, and each number, a fret. Simple stuff. I'm able to come up with decent stuff but really have to work towards it sounding the way I want it to. For instance, I'll think of an idea, say trying to get something to sound like Tool, then I'll work towards making it happen.
Here's a literal example of that --
(The recording levels on my laptop were different than how it sounded in my headphones, apologies for how gross is sounds.)
Chancellor's bass has a really heavy emphasis on texture in a sense whereas Jones often uses variations of mixing up octaves.
I've got the ability as well as the ears for it -- great with timing (love "odd" time signatures), tone, dynamics. Just don't have the knowledge behind what I'm actually playing and I'd honestly rather have it the other way around.
I know nothing about anything you mentioned, not really sure where to start in regards to learning even the absolute basics.
"Here's an A minor 7th."
If there's even such a thing.. what the hell does that even mean? That's what I need to learn.
-------------------- A human being is part of a whole, called by us, the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
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Electric Wizard21
Master


Registered: 04/25/16
Posts: 905
Loc: Russia
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Help with music theory (Video included) [Re: ProoN]
#23902377 - 12/07/16 06:52 AM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Am7 is a chord.
Id say learn scales like pentatonic minor and pentatonic major first then learn to improvise with them. The starting note determines the key, so you can move up and down the neck to change keys. Once you know the pentatonics (which are the fundamental scales to all rock) then start to move in the other scales. A google search will help you find the scales.
Creating your own music isn't that bad but if you don't have anything to work around scale wise it might sound out. It actually sounded okay in the clip.
-------------------- I'm sick of all you hypocrites Holding me at bay And I don't need your sympathy To get me through the day Seasons change and so can I Hold on boy, no time to cry Untie these strings, I'm climbing down I won't let them push me away
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Bannannannaman
a banana


Registered: 12/05/16
Posts: 51
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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From my experience people who can play but not read music actually know quite a lot about music theory, just not how to notate things. If you find a good resource that makes the information accessible you might be surprised at how easily you pick things up.
Music theory can mean a lot of different things. You could get a book from the library or amazon specific to what you want to learn, there are lots of them out there. Also most community colleges have music programs, you could take a course there (some have night courses some don't). They also gave guitar classes etc, where you can get good quality instruction for a fraction of the price that it might otherwise cost.
If you find something hard to understand or confusing, don't give up. I am pretty sure that if you find the information presented clearly then you can learn it no problem.
For example, chords are built on thirds (or every other note) so if you want an a minor chord, it will be a-c-e (or some combination of those notes). Add one more for the seventh (g, usually g# in the key of a minor).
'Third' is an interval, or the distance between two notes. You find the interval by counting STARTING with the first note as 1. So if you wanted to build a chord in 4ths in stead of thirds, you might play:a-d-g. A(1) b(2) c(3) D(4 start here again with 1) e(2) f(3) g(4).
I hope that made sense. There are plenty of books, websites, and youtube videos that go over the basics. Reading TAB is very very similar to reading sheet music, so i think that skill in one makes learning the other much easier. Think of it this way, you can already read music if you can read tabs. It is just a way to notate music. Learning traditional notation is no different, its just a way to put the notes down on paper. Try to think of it that way and maybe it will seem less intimidating.
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