I started a guitar blog...

Focused mainly on jazz and improv, but hopefully helpful to anybody who plays guitar...check it out if you like, let me know what you think.

http://www.jeffmatzguitar.com/1/post/2012/03/jazz-musings1-how-do-i-learn-to-improvise.html

Nice stuff. Right on. I agree with many of your points on your blog and that you have made on this forum.

Can I ask you a technical guitar rated question?

How do you view the fretboard? What I mean by that is do you look down and see the notes? There's A, B, etc.

I ask this because I am coming from a saxophone/woodwind jazz background. I have the opposite problem from a lot people on this forum. Lots play from shapes, patterns etc. If I'm playing a blues I might be going "Damn, where's that F#". I have licks too, but I'm coming at them from what notes over the changes are being played.

I'm slowly working on my reading for guitar. It will just take time I guess. It's frustrating when I can read pretty much anything down on sax or clarinet.

Really good Jeff!
Totally agree with the 1-note, really? and fast is OK stuff.
I love to hear Wes and Freddie King play fast ... because every friggin' note is a GOOD ONE!

*I've also been working a bit more on my own technique because I'm sick of being limited by my personal physical speed limit. I 'hear' it fast in my head a lot these days.

Really good Jeff!
...
*I've also been working a bit more on my own technique because I'm sick of being limited by my personal physical speed limit. I 'hear' it fast in my head a lot these days.

I agree with Ken - really good stuff.

However, it is discouraging to hear guys like Ken say they can't play fast enough. Sheesh.

Lol! I'm not 'fast'. George Benson is fast. EVH is fast, etc.
It's not really the overall speed for speeds sake but when I'm in the middle of something and I 'hear' a fast passage - I want to be able to execute it w/o thinking about it ... and w/o f'ng it up.

I'm noticing at this stage in my guitar life that it's really not so much about scaler or technique practice as it is about really knowing where I want to go and hearing it in my head. The actual 'technical' work I did years ago and I can play fast out of context. It's in the middle of an actual improvised solo where I want to really rip if that's what it calls for. You know, like a really responsive, fast car ... not my '98 Explorer.

How do you view the fretboard? What I mean by that is do you look down and see the notes? There's A, B, etc.

I'm not the person to whom you addressed the question, and I don't play jazz. But FWIW, I use more than one approach - knowing where a specific note is, knowing scale shapes, and knowing the scale degree of a specific note ("that note is a major third above the tonic").

When I play bass guitar and try to come up with a bass line, I usually look at the chord progression, find all the root notes on the bass in octaves where they sound good, then try to come up with other notes that are harmonically correct and connect the root notes together. Then I'll try to evolve that into an interesting bass line. So I may literally think to myself "this song starts with an A chord, so find the A, D, and E notes, the next chord is a C#min7, so find a C# near that E", and so on

Still sticking with bass, sometimes I'll use the Roman numeral system instead - go through the progression and write down the letters corresponding to the chords, then try to play the bass line based on a scale pattern in one position rather than move around the neck looking for root notes. If I know the progression is, say, ii V I, then I'll simply play notes from the tonic major scale, making sure to land on the 2nd note of the scale when that ii chord arrives, and so on. In other words rather than know the letter name of the note, I may instead be aware that that note is the 2nd degree of the scale, this other one is the 6th degree, and so on. When I can pull this off I may end up with a more melodic bass line, but it's also a more failure-prone approach (for me).

With lead guitar (rather than bass) I'm usually less aware of the actual letter note I'm playing. I usually play with a key-centred approach, so much of my playing is based on knowing several scale fingerings and moving between them based on what I'm hearing.

I really try to avoid playing memorised "licks" based on muscle memory, instead I try to listen and play what sounds right at the moment.

I'm coming at them from what notes over the changes are being played.

I have guitar books that teach this approach. To me it still feels very technical (puts me too much in thinking mode instead of feeling mode), but obviously lots of great guitarists use this approach.

I'm slowly working on my reading for guitar. It will just take time I guess. It's frustrating when I can read pretty much anything down on sax or clarinet.
I might be lynched for saying this, but I kinda think that written music notation doesn't make a whole lot of sense for guitar. When you can often find the same exact note in about four different places on the neck, how can you develop a direct mental connection between a dot on the staff and a finger position? For guitar, written music often seems unnecessarily complex, while tabulature seems unnecessarily simple. We need something in between. :mrgreen:

By contrast written notation for keyboards makes total sense to me. All that bizarreness about sharps and flats and enharmonic notes and double sharps and double flats makes sense with keyboards, where playing a simple major scale in each of the 12 major keys requires a different fingering shape, reflected in that different key signature.

-Gnobuddy

Can I ask you a technical guitar rated question?

How do you view the fretboard? What I mean by that is do you look down and see the notes? There's A, B, etc.
.


Note names. And not to get hippy-dippy or too out there, but depending on their function at the moment, they kind of have a color too. But I don't teach that!

But that's mostly during practice...in the heat of the moment I'm hearing and connecting dots...I guess it's another hippy-dippy experience...but when I'm feeling it, the next note I hear kinda lights up. Sometimes it's little chains and I can hit any or all of them...

I should probably just shut up and say notes.:mrgreen:

Note names. And not to get hippy-dippy or too out there, but depending on their function at the moment, they kind of have a color too. But I don't teach that!

But that's mostly during practice...in the heat of the moment I'm hearing and connecting dots...I guess it's another hippy-dippy experience...but when I'm feeling it, the next note I hear kinda lights up. Sometimes it's little chains and I can hit any or all of them...

I should probably just shut up and say notes.:mrgreen:


But I don't teach that!


Why not? This is the stuff that should be taught. To my way of thinking what you're describing could really help someone. The point is we all do something inside our heads and the only real question is "Is that 'something' actually useful in relation to the desired outcome".

The person who is confused with and gets lost on the fretboard is still running some sort of inner map of the fretboard, it's just a really crappy map. Why not offer them an inner map that actually works?!!

This isn't hippy dippy stuff, this is actually very mundane everyday stuff we all do. In your case you have developed an inner map that works and could potentially work for others.

Reconsider.

I think I could teach it if I really knew how to articulate it...but as it is for me now, it's a little too undefined for me to try and relate it to a student.

I think if I do get to the point where I can teach it, I'll have really reached a new level in my own understanding.

I think I could teach it if I really knew how to articulate it...but as it is for me now, it's a little too undefined for me to try and relate it to a student.

I think if I do get to the point where I can teach it, I'll have really reached a new level in my own understanding.

I appreciate what you're saying. I will say though that I understood what you were describing quite clearly. Maybe it's more defined than you think it is? And if you start from the understanding that we all do this kind of stuff in our heads naturally all day long then I think you'll find that students won't find it weird at all. It's just what brains do.

Maybe begin by picking one student who you think would be especially receptive to it and start there. Just a thought.

Also consider that even sharing what you are able to articulate at this point may be enough to get someone to at least explore and reconsider what they're presently doing that may be causing them some problems.

The majority of people are completely unaware of 'how' they think about something like the fretboard. You on the other hand actually have a really well developed understanding of the 'how'. This is exactly what people need.

Offering your way of doing it is not necessarily suggesting that you create a bunch of clones but it can give students the insight to explore their own way of visualizing the fretboard based on your success.

How do you view the fretboard? What I mean by that is do you look down and see the notes? There's A, B, etc.

.

I used to play Sax as well. And Baritone and Tuba. But there was 10+ years between the time I put those instuments down and when I picked up a guitar for the first time. I wouldn't mind to start back playing sax again. I picked up my younger brother's a few years back and a lot of it came back. It wasn't 2nd nature anymore, but it came back prett quickly. I only played for a few years anyway, so there wasn't that much to come back.

Having 10 + years without playing any instruments, I probably see the frettboard like most people whose first instrument is guitar, in shapes and patterns. I don't worry about sepcific notes as much as the distance between notes. Now, that doesn't mean I don't know the frettboard, it just means I'm not thinking about which notes exactly I am playing so much as I am how they relate to each other. There are probably a handfull of notes that I do see on the frettboard that I use just to know about where I am.

I will most def agree that I found reading sheet music much easier for sax than I do guitar. I like to read from various sources; sheet music, tabs, charts... It help give perspective, imo. I suspect you know a good deal more about music than I do though.

Jeff, that's great! I'll be a regular over there...
Regards
Jem

I don't worry about specific notes as much as the distance between notes. Now, that doesn't mean I don't know the frettboard, it just means I'm not thinking about which notes exactly I am playing so much as I am how they relate to each other.
That's kinda how I see it too. Knowing that the fourth note of the major scale is two whole notes and one half note higher than the tonic is probably more useful in the middle of an improvised solo than knowing that the fourth note in the key of Eb major is Ab...

My main instrument is guitar and I'm a lousy bass player, but one reason I continue to dabble in playing bass is because it forces me to think in a different way, and to really be aware of every single note I play, so that every bass note serves its harmonic function in supporting the chord being played by the rhythm guitar at that instant.

I'm hoping some of that approach rubs off onto my guitar playing, particularly since the two instruments (bass and guitar) are tuned so much alike.

-Gnobuddy

I dont know anyone (including myself) who has really (fully) articulated the internal process of how the 'lines' appear - its a personal 'language' that, at best partially engages with spoken language in my experience. This is enormously complex - but I agree BG - I think its always worth getting it into some famework even if its for your own benefit, let alone for students or anyone else who is curious about the creative process. I think in this instance its important to forget 'normalcy' in language and just be as graphic in explaining it as you can - which can lead to some pretty far out **** - (thinking of Wayne Shorter or Frank Zappa- lol) -


BUT - Jeff makes a number of important caveats to all that on his blog and the one that really resonates with me is the idea of immersion. Being 'in' the music generates the most important conversation of all - the one that relays between your perception, your heart, your mind and the fingers - it's a conversation borne on lightning - which is why its so hard to slow down and articulate. But you just cant have someone else's conversation - even if someone else's experience resonates with you.

Some people dont like the idea of that apparently 'lonely journey' - but all I can say is that the minute you play with others who have committed themselves to that same immersion, you dont feel lonely at all!

I guess that's why being in a band is so cool/great/awesome/attractive ... it's art, sports, dining, dancing and drinking all at the same time!

Not to mention drama.

Bookmarked! I really enjoy your posts and look forward to checking this out, Jeff. At some point I want to get into real jazz playing but can't dedicate the time to immersing myself in it - I owe it to my band to learn our stuff first. But your writing is always interesting, informative, fun and helps whet my appetite.

I guess that's why being in a band is so cool/great/awesome/attractive ... it's art, sports, dining, dancing and drinking all at the same time!

AND conflict too - although I guess that's partly what JT means by drama :mrgreen:

music is such a social construct....

off OP but it made me think of Duke Ellington's 'Money Jungle" - and how the enmity between Mingus and Roach , and Mingus' utter reverence for Duke are somehow totally eclipsed by the amazing music they make together.

I'm keen to follow your blog JT. You always have very useful insights in your posts.

Sorry if I was implying that this descriptive/creative process is confined to an elite or a select few. That wasnt my intention at all. The exact opposite in fact...
Great blog Jeff!

Sorry if I was implying that this descriptive/creative process is confined to an elite or a select few. That wasnt my intention at all. The exact opposite in fact...
Great blog Jeff!

No I didn't think that at all from your post SP. Sorry if that's how I came across. It wasn't meant to be aimed at you or anyone else in particular for that matter.

Love the blog Jeff! As someone who's trying to decide to jump head first into jazz it was a great honest delivery of the time and amount of devotion it takes to be a real player.

A slightly off topic question...Can anyone recommend other guitar technique related blogs I can check out while I'm working..Its brilliant to hear others perspectives on the musical ideas that tend to give me fits and to do it at work is makes them even better.:razz:

In regards to the clarinetist who asked how people see the fretboard - Ive been playing guitar for 8 years now - 4 of them spent in a very formal post secondary classical idiom but more recently focused on jazz. I see the fretboard differently depending on what I'm playing.When playing classical guitar I'm focused solely on note names. Not even function. It's all about hitting the target and producing the desired tone. I play a lot of baroque music so function is based on line anyways, there isn't really a whole lot of chordal playing. When Im playing jazz I see arpeggios, and I could name the notes as letters no problem, but Im always thinking function R, 9, 3, 11, 5,13 b7 etc. I think this forces myself to hear the changes and the colours of the notes (like JazzTele mentioned) as opposed to just thinking of playing a C - C# over an A7. I would say I hear that as the m3-M3 and almost as more of a "word" now if you will. I will say on a side note, that this took me at least a year or two to really understand because of my former training and also being stuck in blues boxes for soloing (curse you rock music :P)

I think shapes are important on the guitar though. Guitar is a very visual instrument and it makes memory a lot easier if you understand the 5 shapes for each chord (plus inversions and drop sets) and how they connect with each other. Heck, even Joe Pass played out of shapes (or at least learned using them).

Guitar is a very visual instrument and it makes memory a lot easier if you understand the 5 shapes for each chord (plus inversions and drop sets) and how they connect with each other. Heck, even Joe Pass played out of shapes (or at least learned using them).I agree about learning the forms, but at least for myself, there came a time when the forms stopped being visual, and starting being tactile/audible.

In other words, the G form has a feel and sound that it distinct from all the other forms. When I was first learning, I would look at the form to make sure I was playing it correctly, so there was obviously some visual processing going on, but eventually, the visual stuff just started getting in the way.

BTW, Nice blog Jeff! Can I get your permission to post a link to your blog on my Yahoo group? I use the Yahoo group a sorta'/semi-blog to communicate with current and former students.

I agree about learning the forms, but at least for myself, there came a time when the forms stopped being visual, and starting being tactile/audible.

In other words, the G form has a feel and sound that it distinct from all the other forms. When I was first learning, I would look at the form to make sure I was playing it correctly, so there was obviously some visual processing going on, but eventually, the visual stuff just started getting in the way.

BTW, Nice blog Jeff! Can I get your permission to post a link to your blog on my Yahoo group? I use the Yahoo group a sorta'/semi-blog to communicate with current and former students.

no problem, go right ahead.

thanks all for the encouragement!

Thanks guys. I understand what you mean by function, and I think about it as sounds over a given chord when I'm playing sax. It's just getting to the point where when I want that sound, I got to look down at the fingerboard and go, ok, wheres that C so I can play a m3rd.

It has been good for me though. It had been about 20 years since I really played guitar so most of the licks, patterns, etc I had in my youth were gone. What I get tends to be pure me because I have no familiar material for the fingers to fall back on. With out trying to sound hippy-dippy as well, it has been a great cleansing experience for my playing.