Learning to play guitar well

eph221
security?  Because I know the bouncer handshake?  haha  Oh wait, you must have meant Dave 003 for security.  I'll be doing the masterclasses.

craigb

tlw
A subject area to add perhaps...

"Taste, the difference between a technician and a musician".

Actually, I almost doubt that part can be taught.  They're either an insecure dweeb who can only justify their existence if they can play 64th triplets at 240bpm, or a music lover from birth I would say.  LOL.

craigb

eph221
security?  Because I know the bouncer handshake?  haha  Oh wait, you must have meant Dave 003 for security.  I'll be doing the masterclasses.

Sorry, the reference was for Bitflipper.  I keep forgetting how many Daves are here now... 

Moshkito
Hi,
 

craigb Leg one - Knowledge of your chosen instrument.

You should understand how your instrument makes sound, how to set it up, how to clean and maintain it, what each part does and how to tune it. You should also know what it's musical range is, how the notes and chords are configured, how to alter the basics (e.g., alternate tunings, capo use, baritone vs. standard, how many strings?, string gauges, slides, tremolos, in-series or out pickups, single coils vs. multiple coils, in phase or out, muting, etc.) as well as correct playing techniques for whichever styles you are interested in.
...

 
You do know how many bass guitar teachers have shown me all that, right? NONE. They all wanted me to play bleeping Chuck Berry and I was not interested!
 

craigb Leg two - Music theory.

Here is where you learn what music itself is all about. From chords, chord progressions, arpeggios, notes, keys, scales, rests, bends, portamento, vibrato, harmonics, modes, octaves, bars, tab and staff.
...

 
I would like to disagree here. Sometimes you find a set of fingerings that sound perfect for your ear and represents the cows grazing in the sunset, and then being milked in the morning, and it has nothing to do with the notes, or the chords or the keys ... your inner mind automatically went from here to there, because it was how the "visual" side of your inner story kinda told you to go, and how you "interpreted" your inner movie.
 
Almost every one of those details are AFTER THE FACT, of the creative process, unless you believe that everyone uses a computer to compose now, and will never even play an instrument, in which case, all this is redundant and not even considered. Let's start with Rap!
 
And we haven't even mentioned "effects" and "sound" and how it affects all of those details mentioned.
 

craigb Leg three - Ear training.
This falls into two camps: Absolute pitch and relative pitch. The abilities to know what a note is when you hear it and to know what chord is being played when you hear it. ...

 
I think this is OK for an academic exercise. Not OK, in almost ALL of rock music history, that originally was setup to break the rigidness of the music circles. Even jazz was laughed at for not being serious music way back when, although that might have been more of a color barrier than otherwise, which is very hard to disseminate.
 
But using "ear training" to ENSURE that you are LISTENING and working with that other person, is something that needs to be considered and learned better. The only issue here, is teaching how to adjust and react to it, which is not hard, and will bring all your inner knowledge to the forefront real quick, but it is the difference between good and average player. This is easily TAUGHT in advanced acting classes, for example, and can also be taught for music.
I like the studies on both of those, and even bought the CD's ... but his teaching method is a bit odd and scary, since I do not associate "notes" or "chords" with colors ... I associate them with movies and visuals ... and for me, all music is a continuous movie with story and such. The notes are the mechanical side of it.
 
This is really hard to explain to most people, because a music teacher (specially) will immediately say ... you're not fit to do music! It's like Mahler ... wrote a symphony for his wife ... and it didn't phase her ... she still walked out. You gonna say that Mahler was out of tune, or she was?
 

craigb Leg four - Song theory

This area includes song structure, verses, choruses, codas, bridges, intros, outros, time signatures, melody, harmony, soloing, song writing, orchestrating, etc.
...

This is after the fact stuff for most people, and specially with the advent of rock 60 or so years ago, when things were done because they felt good and right, not becausse of any of these things. In fact, most of the Beatle stuff was about breaking those traditions and doing something else with it.
 

craigb
...
Randy will be teaching the class on finding hookers and blow while dealing with clingy groupies. CJ will discuss studio setup. Dave covers security concepts. Bapu has asked to teach a morning class apparently (all it says is "Am"). Rain and Jarvse will co-teach a class on how to dress to match your chosen genre. Others are still signing up!
...

 
I'm offended!
 
I would have been the door person with the t-shi(r)t that says ... "I hate musik!" ... and the t-shirt has that contorted face listening to something horrible ... in blue, of course!
 
PS: I like what you did ... it was well meaning and good, although I really thought it just needed a more open idea about music itself. Please spend some time reading the book on Andy Partridge, or the one on that German music (Future Days), and then if you have time, the one on Robert Wyatt (Different Every Time), for some really good eye openers about music and how some folks dealt with it. Hopefully we will not think that Robert was too drunk to know the difference, but his consistency suggests a lot more.

craigb
 
Leg one - Knowledge of your chosen instrument.
 
You should understand how your instrument makes sound, how to set it up, how to clean and maintain it, what each part does and how to tune it.  You should also know what it's musical range is, how the notes and chords are configured, how to alter the basics (e.g., alternate tunings, capo use, baritone vs. standard, how many strings?, string gauges, slides, tremolos, in-series or out pickups, single coils vs. multiple coils, in phase or out, muting, etc.) as well as correct playing techniques for whichever styles you are interested in.
 
Leg two - Music theory.
 
Here is where you learn what music itself is all about.  From chords, chord progressions, arpeggios, notes, keys, scales, rests, bends, portamento, vibrato, harmonics, modes, octaves, bars, tab and staff.  And on and on and on.  Circles of 5ths and 4ths as well as being able to read music (either staff notation or tab).  Being able to communicate with other musicians (when needed) or playing something already created without hearing it.
 
Leg three - Ear training.
 
This falls into two camps:  Absolute pitch and relative pitch.  The abilities to know what a note is when you hear it and to know what chord is being played when you hear it.  This could be the easiest leg to describe, but the hardest (for some) to become proficient at!
 
Leg four - Song theory.
 
This area includes song structure, verses, choruses, codas, bridges, intros, outros, time signatures, melody, harmony, soloing, song writing, orchestrating, etc.