Hows does your brain work

Re: Hows does your brain work

Jacew said:
I don't go by the shapes. I've learned major scale thorough the fretboard. I can play it from any position, though getting it always right is still work in progress.
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There was a US President from the 1800's who could write in one language with one hand, and another language with the other hand AT THE SAME TIME. I've heard of people who can write and draw at the same time. If you can play the natural scale in any mode without ever having learned the scale shapes, you need to find out if you're one of THOSE guys!!!

I get it, it's just knowing where those semitones are. I do that all the time when noodling. Then I'm lost, and I have to go back and look at the shapes and how I got there.

Question: Do you look at the natural scale as one big line instead of 5 shapes the squish together...???
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

Gransen said:
There was a US President from the 1800's who could write in one language with one hand, and another language with the other hand AT THE SAME TIME. I've heard of people who can write and draw at the same time. If you can play the natural scale in any mode without ever having learned the scale shapes, you need to find out if you're one of THOSE guys!!!

I get it, it's just knowing where those semitones are. I do that all the time when noodling. Then I'm lost, and I have to go back and look at the shapes and how I got there.

Question: Do you look at the natural scale as one big line instead of 5 shapes the squish together...???
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I did learn that basic shape when I started, then just expanded there. Did a lot of single string practice.

It's easy to remember really: 3 whole steps, half step, 2 whole steps, half step along single string, next string having those whole steps reversed so half steps stack every second time and upper moves whole step up every second time.

Possibly biggest obstacle is to remember the half step shift on b string.

So i look at it as a single line.

The "getting lost" problem is just a matter of always keeping in mind where the root notes are.
 
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Re: Hows does your brain work

Jacew said:
I did learn that basic shape when I started, then just expanded there. Did a lot of single string practice.

It's easy to remember really: 3 whole steps, half step, 2 whole steps, half step along single string, next string having those whole steps reversed so half steps stack every second time and upper moves whole step up every second time.
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You're talking about something sort of like this...

001_Shred.jpg

...starting at the root, it's four notes per string with the semitone at the back for the first two strings, then in the middle for the next two string, and then at the front for the next two strings. Then the next problem is starting on a different string and how that pattern recycles.

Possibly biggest obstacle is to remember the half step shift on b string.
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For me, it's coming down the scale, not up. I should spend a month or two doing scale drills ONLY BACKWARDS!!! (That'll teach me for being stupid...!!!)

The "getting lost" problem is just a matter of always keeping in mind where the root notes are.
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Sing it to me, Bruthah...!!! Again, it's coming down the scale that kills me.

(How does my brain work...??? I almost typed "...coming BACK down the scale...," and INSTANTLY thought, "Hey, I like to start in one particular area of the fretboard. I should noodle around up top and work my way down, and then work my way BACK UP where I started...!!!" Then I stopped and decided to write this instead...)
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

It was the three-notes-per-string pattern I learned. But that's irrelevant as it's not the way I see the fretboard now.

Perhaps I have more theoretical view to it... I don't move up and down scales or remember patterns on fretboard. I just look at notes and their intervalls. Each string has same series of intervalls, next string having the start at five semitones higher (exept b with 4 semitones). Root is same place on both e strings and can also be found easily whole step and two strings up.


So when playing there is just two things to remember: Where is the root and what is the major scale with the notes I want.

If I play in different mode from ionian, I don't think patterns for that mode. Just play notes from relative ionian mode.
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

Jacew said:
Perhaps I have more theoretical view to it... I don't move up and down scales or remember patterns on fretboard. I just look at notes and their intervalls. Each string has same series of intervalls, next string having the start at five semitones higher (exept b with 4 semitones). Root is same place on both e strings and can also be found easily whole step and two strings up.


So when playing there is just two things to remember: Where is the root and what is the major scale with the notes I want.

If I play in different mode from ionian, I don't think patterns for that mode. Just play notes from relative ionian mode.
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The first part of your reply is why I compared your visualization technique to the uniquely creative. I get what you're saying, but I need a road map to do the same thing. I'm getting better at what you do naturally, but you do it naturally whereas I needed a road map to get me started.

The last part about Ionian is something like how I see the my stops on the road map. I just stay with the Ionian interval numbering system, and then I'm calling the root in Phrygian mode "3".
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

Gransen said:
The first part of your reply is why I compared your visualization technique to the uniquely creative. I get what you're saying, but I need a road map to do the same thing. I'm getting better at what you do naturally, but you do it naturally whereas I needed a road map to get me started.

The last part about Ionian is something like how I see the my stops on the road map. I just stay with the Ionian interval numbering system, and then I'm calling the root in Phrygian mode "3".
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Nah. Nothing related to guitar playing came naturally to me. Took years of learning and like I said it's still "work in progress".

I just started learning it that way because learning dozens of shapes seemed much more difficult and time consuming.

EDIT: just noted i wrote earlier "anything" instead on "nothing" in the first sentence which i was supposed to write :34:
 
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Re: Hows does your brain work

Jacew said:
Nah. Anything related to guitar playing came naturally to me. Took years of learning and like I said it's still "work in progress".

I just started learning it that way because learning dozens of shapes seemed much more difficult and time consuming.
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When you said that you learned the first shape and went from there, I was like, yeah, I get it. It takes a certain level of creativity, but not at the "genius" level if you needed the first pattern to get you started, and it's still a work in progress. But I know a guy who can play virtually any instrument in the world, and plays piano like your momma wouldn't know! His mom said, "I bought some sheet music to a song I heard and love. Can you play it for me...???" He looked at it, smiled and said, "Yeah, that's a nice song!"

Then he SLAMMED out an EXTREMELY complex piece of classical music...that he'd never even heard of until that very moment. Then he finished and said, "I have to work on it, but that wasn't bad for the first time through."

I'll bet you a dollar that he sees things differently when he looks at a fretboard.
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

How does my brain work...???

The B-D-A-E chord prog mystery...SOLVED!!!

Me speaking to myself: "Dude, just figure out what intervals are needed to give you those 4 majors...then look up that scale online!!!"

That would be the sixth mode of the Locrian Natural 7 scale, called "Dominate #2." The intervals are: 1, #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7.

It's a boogy woogy sounding heptatonic bluesy major scale...after the first interval, there's a three semitone gap, then three semitones in a row. But it's not like the "blues scale," which is a bit more moody. This is more "boogy woogy." That's NOT the vibe that I got from listening to that diddy in a commercial decades ago, so they must have omitted, like either the 3rd or the 4th interval from the lead in order to keep it more "natural major" sounding.

How does my brain work...???

Welp, along the way getting here, I figured out a nice fill for that one: when going from A to E, just hit the bottom 4 open strings real quick, and the fill is now a G6 chord. Okay, great! This is fun...!!!

HEY, THERE'S NO "G" IN B DOMINATE #2...!!! So, if I uses that fill, I'm going to be stepping all over the lead part...and I can't just flat the 6th interval or I'll turn my Emaj into Emin.

So, now it's time to walk away and work on other stuff. I'm not convinced of this scale just yet, so it has to go on hold.
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

Gransen said:
How does my brain work...???

The B-D-A-E chord prog mystery...SOLVED!!!

That would be the sixth mode of the Locrian Natural 7 scale, called "Dominate #2." The intervals are: 1, #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7.

So, now it's time to walk away and work on other stuff. I'm not convinced of this scale just yet, so it has to go on hold.
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The chord prog is fairly hard driving...all majors. Uplifting, like: "let's go have some fun!"

On lead, if I drop the 3rd and 6th intervals, I'm playing the Pentatonic Minor...against a major chord progression. I bet that works on vocals too... :)

Tried to walk away, just had to hack out the intervals that sound good on lead before I go to bed, and next thing I know, I'm like, "HEY, I KNOW THAT SCALE...!!!"

Dingity f'ing dangit...!!! A goal in life was to figure out how to run the pentatonic minor against a major chord progression. Never thought much about it past that. Now I can scratch that off my bucket list. Welp, I gotta hit the sack...GOODNIGHT!!!
 
Re: Hows does your brain work

This is your brain... this is your brain while trying to learn a solo....

I think burnout is a real thing. If you sit for too long working on something, you just won't be productive anymore. I like to work on more complicated things in steps and never try to tackle the whole thing at once. Get a metronome and work through things methodically. You will get way better results that way. At least I do.
 
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