Q. I've been playing for a year and know all the basics of chords scales and music theory, but I'm stuck in a rut of not knowing what else to learn except more songs. I want to be able to jam with my friends but I can't improvise at all because I don't know what to play, what should I learn or do to be able to improvise on the piano?
A. There is most definitely no simple answer to this question.
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One of the simplest thing to do is just practice to a lot of different songs. Everyday. Constantly.
Pandora.com is great because it will throw random Blues songs that you have not listened to. Then you MUST improvise. It's like homework, you MUST do the things you are not good at Until you GET good.
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#1- LISTEN!
- No musician on this planet knows everything. But with a good Ear, we all are able to learn from sound. Since there Are enough musicians in the world to have Everything "covered", we have the means to Learn Anything. If we simply Hear and Analyze.
If you are at a jam, a song starts and you don't know what to play, "Listen". Hang back for a progression or two and Use your ears. Ask yourself, "What are the other instruments playing"?
Play what they play with variation.
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- Start Slow. There's no need to play EVERY space. No need to use fast thousand note runs.
***The Less you play, the Less you have to know to sound "good". If you are not confident in your abilities, don't worry. Play what you Do feel confident with and then practice afterwards.
- Repetition with variation. If you find a riff that is Killing on a song, Play It! Play it to Death. But use minor variation so that you don't sound like that lick is the Only lick you know.
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Numerous different and NEW Scale practice exercises will help you develop new pathways to improvisation. There are Billions of ways to play a scale. It doesn't just have to be CDEFGABC. It can be something as simple as CD E FG A BC. Using your imagination when you are practicing means you don't have to use it as much while you are onstage.
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Time and Practice! That's it.
A basic understanding of Anatomy/Physiology, Nuerology/Psychology doesn't hurt either. Simple things that most of us never think about make a HUGE difference in learning a new skill.
When I practice, I have a Specific improvement I want to make. I Obsessively think about that improvement Before, During and After my practice. This gives my mind a "Heads-Up" that I NEED to retain the Data pertaining to the specific targeted improvement that is heading it's way.
Be Obsessive. I have never met an Obsessive person who fails.
What are some good sources to read about guitar theory/ music theory?
Q. I want to learn more about chord structure works, how scales work, how most songs are written/ song composition and things like that because I want to have a better ability to make and write music. I'm a novice when it comes to guitar as I have only been playing for a year. Any other suggestions on things I should learn or what order or something I should learn things in would be much appreciated as well!
A. Hey there, my name's Garrett. I'm glad you're looking into ways to educate yourself in the technicalities of music theory in approaching writing songs! Many people take off without learning some basic fundamentals and hit walls because they are not able to completely understand what they are playing.
Probably the best way to understand music composition is obviously professional instruction. But because many people do not have the time, means, or financial capability to do that, I'll run through some other alternatives.
Honestly, some of the best free sources of music theory come from people uploading things on YouTube. Just run a search for "beginning music theory guitar" or something like that.
If you have a few dollars to spend, go into any guitar center or bookstore and look for orchestration or composition books. Even though these books may be geared towards different instruments, that is ok. Music theory is music theory. The first few chapters will always be about how music is arranged and how chord structure works. It doesn't change instrument to instrument, and it will still give you a solid foundation for applying anything to the guitar.
Personally I would recommend learning theory first by looking at the piano instead of the guitar. This may seem foreign and weird at first, but let me explain. Piano is unique in that there is a visual for every note that is played (in other words, there is a single key for a single note). And these notes are lined up lowest to highest, from left to right. Guitar doesn't offer that. You can play a note on the low E string that is higher than the open D string, and you can play the same note in a multitude of different places on the guitar. Piano is not like this. Piano is very straightforward. You literally are able to see the intervals.
Here's a crash course to solidify what I am saying. I will get to how this applies to writing songs on guitar, promise!
A major scale is composed of these intervals - whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
Whole meaning a whole step. This means that you move two keys on the piano (including black keys) for every note you move up. A half step means you only move up one key.
A C major scale is the simplest, so I'll use this one as an example. Start on C, then whole step (skipping the black key) to D, then another whole step to E, then half to F, and so on, following the whole-half structure I indicated above.
If you do this right, you notice that you didn't hit any black keys and the scale sounds happy and familiar. This is why C is the easiest. There are no sharps and no flats. If you start on the note D and play a D major scale, following the whole-half structure, you'll notice that you will hit F# and C#. This is where sharps and flats come from.
Now lets see how this applies to creating a song, and chord structure. Lets start at C again. Play a C chord, then an F chord, then a G cord, and an A minor chord. These all sound good together, right? That is because all of these chords are in the same key; the key of C. The C chord is the I chord, the F chord is the IV chord, the G chord is the V chord and the A minor is the VI minor chord. If we go back to our scale, you'll notice C is the first note you hit in the whole-half pattern, F is the 4th, G is the 5th, and A is the 6th. You can mix these chords up any way you want and they will sound good. Thousands and thousands of songs have been written based on these chords alone. For now it is not important to understand why the first three chords are major and the 6 chord is minor, but you will get to that if you decide to pursue your musical training.
If you want to play in a key other than C, you look at the same pattern, just with different notes. For example, the I chord in the key of D is D. The IV chord is G, the V is A, and the VI is B minor. These are the same intervals as the chords in the key of C, just played in the key of D.
Of course you are not only limited to the I, IV, V, and VI chords in making a song. You don't even have to play chords. The great thing about music is that it is always up to the artist's choice. Chords are just a good place to start. As you learn more, you will learn the other chords that can be played in a specific key to sound good and how to add "accidental" notes and move in and out of keys, use passing chords, etc etc.
But start with knowing chord structure and what chords will sound good together and why. Then you can find intervals and grooves you like, put some lead guitar on top of the chords, or incorporate whatever you feel is best.
I know I practically just wrote a novel, and I'm sorry for that. But I really love this stuff and I like showing it to people too. I hope some of that made sense. Read up and you'll understand this stuff in no time!
What instrument is better piano or guitar?
Q. i aldready play the violin so i want an instrument that will benefit me, and help me improve in my technique. I also want to know what is relatively easier to learn. Please tell me why you think the instrument you chose is better.
A. No instrument is better than one another. They will both require years of practicing and both can sound amazing and very nice if played correctly and well. As for improving your technique on the violin, guitar would be best since you are practicing strumming the strings and doing Pizzicato a lot, which is also commonly done on the violin, but not as much. If you are really passionate about the violin, guitar would be the most beneficial to you. However, if you want a change in instruments and want to play something different than the guitar that can still play the same basic things as piano like rock music and pop music, including classical music which can also be done on the guitar, piano would be a good idea. Since you already have a basis for classical music on the violin, you may find guitar a wiser decision because you will be exposed to a lot of interesting types of music and have a variety of music to play. However, piano would be a good choice if you are truly passionate about playing classical music like on the violin. Piano is easier to learn at first as far as where the notes are located because there are thousands of chord combinations on the guitar and the notes aren't laid out for you on a guitar like on a piano, but once you know where the notes are located on the guitar, guitar gets easier and you can play songs with chords very easily. Piano involves a lot more simultaneous playing and thinking than the guitar for most songs and pieces. Whichever instrument you choose to learn, good luck learning it!
Maxwell
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