LazyLightning
New member
Hi folks,
As I mentioned in my introduction thread a few weeks ago, I am coming back into playing after nearly 20 years. Before I was forced to stop for the last 2 decades, I was an arrogant 20'ish y/o ( I am sure I am not the only one in history )
I always had an ear for music and it came very natural for me, for that I feel very fortunate. The problem is I never learned theory, or anything of real value. I would either sit down with a cassette tape and literally figure out each note to a song I wanted to learn and on rare occasions look up tab to a song my buddies wanted me to know. Sure I could play the songs and they sounded decent, but there was a huge problem doing things this way.
Even though I could play this or that song, I couldn't tell you why it worked. If I had gun to my head I would not be able to tell you even in a round about way why certain notes worked together and others didn't! I think you know what I mean. I could play well, but had no idea why. Now that I am older and pretty much doing this just for my own enjoyment, I want to avoid making those same mistakes. I want to learn not only how to play my favorite songs, I want to know how and why they work.
SO.....
Now that I have my beautiful new 60's CV Strat I really want to learn all those things I was clueless too way back when. Since I am teaching myself, I thought it was a good idea to start with learning basic open chords. I have also started working on learning the 5 positions of the A minor pentatonic scale. Do you guys think this is a good place to start, or should I be focusing on something else to get started? Like I said I have been a DeadHead nearly my entire life, so most of my song choices will be theirs. That covers a wide variety though, from bluegrass to both classic and psychedelic rock-n-role and everything in-between. If I had to put it into %'s I would say 85% devoted to learning Dead song/jams, etc.. and the rest to a small grouping of others ( Hendrix, Floyd and believe it or not Metallica**yes a DeadHead who likes classic Metallica** we do exist lol )
I don't see a forum devoted to theory so I apologize ahead of time if this thread is misplaced, I just didn't know where else to ask.
So from the info provided above, am I starting with the right tools? Is there anything some of you much more advanced players can point me to that I have not considered?
Any & all input is greatly appreciated!
TIA
LazyLightning
PS-
I should have added, back before I took the 20year hiatus, I kinda fell into the rhythm spot of the guys I used to jam with on a regular basis. This time around I would really like to work my way towards a more lead based role, again this is with me playing by my lonesome.:biglaugh:
As I mentioned in my introduction thread a few weeks ago, I am coming back into playing after nearly 20 years. Before I was forced to stop for the last 2 decades, I was an arrogant 20'ish y/o ( I am sure I am not the only one in history )
I always had an ear for music and it came very natural for me, for that I feel very fortunate. The problem is I never learned theory, or anything of real value. I would either sit down with a cassette tape and literally figure out each note to a song I wanted to learn and on rare occasions look up tab to a song my buddies wanted me to know. Sure I could play the songs and they sounded decent, but there was a huge problem doing things this way.
Even though I could play this or that song, I couldn't tell you why it worked. If I had gun to my head I would not be able to tell you even in a round about way why certain notes worked together and others didn't! I think you know what I mean. I could play well, but had no idea why. Now that I am older and pretty much doing this just for my own enjoyment, I want to avoid making those same mistakes. I want to learn not only how to play my favorite songs, I want to know how and why they work.
SO.....
Now that I have my beautiful new 60's CV Strat I really want to learn all those things I was clueless too way back when. Since I am teaching myself, I thought it was a good idea to start with learning basic open chords. I have also started working on learning the 5 positions of the A minor pentatonic scale. Do you guys think this is a good place to start, or should I be focusing on something else to get started? Like I said I have been a DeadHead nearly my entire life, so most of my song choices will be theirs. That covers a wide variety though, from bluegrass to both classic and psychedelic rock-n-role and everything in-between. If I had to put it into %'s I would say 85% devoted to learning Dead song/jams, etc.. and the rest to a small grouping of others ( Hendrix, Floyd and believe it or not Metallica**yes a DeadHead who likes classic Metallica** we do exist lol )
I don't see a forum devoted to theory so I apologize ahead of time if this thread is misplaced, I just didn't know where else to ask.
So from the info provided above, am I starting with the right tools? Is there anything some of you much more advanced players can point me to that I have not considered?
Any & all input is greatly appreciated!
TIA
LazyLightning
PS-
I should have added, back before I took the 20year hiatus, I kinda fell into the rhythm spot of the guys I used to jam with on a regular basis. This time around I would really like to work my way towards a more lead based role, again this is with me playing by my lonesome.:biglaugh:
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