The idiots guide to guitar Part I

[xzyryabx]

I can play well (i.e repeating other guitarists creations), but can't improvise...can't really put the pieces of the puzzle together.

From what I've gathered here is a good starting pathway, and things are starting to make a bit more sense but I'm stuck again (seek below):
1)Memorize all notes on the fretboard....DONE!
2)Learn the intervals around each note....DONE!
3)Learn the triad shapes (major, minor, diminished, augmented)....DONE!
4)Memorize the major scale all over the neck....DONE!
5)???
6)???
7)???

A problem I have at this point is since I know the major scale in a certain key, then I also know the relative minor of that key as well....but I have trouble switching to a different key b/c all the landmarks on the neck shift and I get lost and have to start thinking and then i start thinking shit, there are 11 (12?!) keys if I can't do one shift how the hell am I supposed to do this fluidly for all of them, let alone different scales....then everything sort of shuts down and I start practicing the same stupid 3 string run i've been working on for years then get depressed and stop.....so what's the trick here?

I'm not going to bother even thinking about modes or other scales yet until I have this point above figured out....am I going around this in completely the wrong way or what?

so...I'm the idiot, you're the guide.
GO!!

ps. remember, this is an idiots guide, so explain it like i'm five!

 

[MoshJosh]

I just try and memorize the intervals/patter of the major scale when I move it to a different key then just drill it over and over and if I was smart I'd probably say each note name aloud. . . but I'm about where you're at so I'd say I fall under the idiot category as well sooo

 

[Maniacal]

If playing in different keys is the main problem at the moment, why don't you literally spend 1 week playing in an unfamiliar key?

 

[xzyryabx]

If playing in different keys is the main problem at the moment, why don't you literally spend 1 week playing in an unfamiliar key?

So you're jist is to play that major scale in a different key until I memorize it all over the board then start on the next one?
I have tried that, and I eventually get it down, but then I find myself forgetting the first one I learned....and that's just the same scale in different keys, I can't imagine how hard this will be for all scales in all keys

 

[Maniacal]

It is a lifetimes work, you can always know your scales better. The only way to get good at different keys is to actually do it.

If you forget the first one, spend a little bit of time each day playing your major scales through the circle of fifths.

 

[ghost_of_karelia]

If you've learned shapes and intervals as you claim you have, it shouldn't be a problem for you to relocate your playing to suit a new key. You'd know the intervals in a major scale (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and all that jazz) and the natural minor (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) and thus be able to paint that over a new root note - as you've also said you've memorised notes on the fretboard.

Point is: visualise intervals, not notes. It'll stop you getting stuck, especially if you modulate into keys with shit tons of accidentals, you'll just be visualising the same intervals and fret jumps in a different section of the neck.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

What Maniacal said.
More than often we metal guys are not used to the groove of other kinds of music on which other scales are often used.
I found that to be a problem more than the notes I play.
The tempo, the swing, alterates the sound of what you play.
So slow down and force yourself to not use runs.
You learnt intervals, which are going to help you with modes more than notes, but your ears must learn how to use them effectively.

To get back to the scale you know, start using chromaticism upon it.
Play slow and work chromaticisms around the root, 3rd and 5th on the chord you're playing over.
For example play triplets of 3rd, diminished 3rd and back to 3rd or 5th, diminished 5th and back to 5th.
This will ease your ears on notes you're not used to and will help when you move to modes.

Also, mastering this will help you a lot
http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/fretboard-interval

 

[xzyryabx]

If you've learned shapes and intervals as you claim you have, it shouldn't be a problem for you to relocate your playing to suit a new key. You'd know the intervals in a major scale (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and all that jazz) and the natural minor (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) and thus be able to paint that over a new root note - as you've also said you've memorised notes on the fretboard.

Point is: visualise intervals, not notes. It'll stop you getting stuck, especially if you modulate into keys with shit tons of accidentals, you'll just be visualising the same intervals and fret jumps in a different section of the neck.

Ok, that is completely different to how I have been doing it and makes more sense....so I should be looking for root notes and visualizing the intervals around them, this way I won't have to memorize the pattern all over the board.
Do any guitarists actually memorize the full patterns (i.e using the 5 boxes) for each scale/key? Is that just a more advanced way of doing it?

What Maniacal said.
More than often we metal guys are not used to the groove of other kinds of music on which other scales are often used.
I found that to be a problem more than the notes I play.
The tempo, the swing, alterates the sound of what you play.
So slow down and force yourself to not use runs.
You learnt intervals, which are going to help you with modes more than notes, but your ears must learn how to use them effectively.

To get back to the scale you know, start using chromaticism upon it.
Play slow and work chromaticisms around the root, 3rd and 5th on the chord you're playing over.
For example play triplets of 3rd, diminished 3rd and back to 3rd or 5th, diminished 5th and back to 5th.
This will ease your ears on notes you're not used to and will help when you move to modes.

Also, mastering this will help you a lot
Fretboard Interval Identification

Good points!
That interval tester is great BTW.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Learn the theory stuff on paper, then take it back to the guitar later. Every scale you'll ever come across is really just a set of intervals. What puts it in a key is when you decide which note to start the scale on. For example, a phrygian scale is 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7. We won't go through the whole thing, just the first three notes. ♭2 is always a half step (or one fret) above 1. ♭3 is always a whole step (or two frets) above ♭2. If A is 1, then ♭2 must be the note a half step above that: B♭. B would be a half step above that, but we need a whole step, so adjust that to C.

If 1 is G, then ♭2 must be A♭ and ♭3 must be B♭.

I hope that makes sense.

Speaking of improvisation, I think this is different for everybody and has a much deeper place in one's musical experience than most people seem to give it credit for. I can tell you to focus on chord tones, but that does not tell you how to improvise. Improvisation is composition, and composition in music, like composition in literature, needs form, substance, and most importantly some sort of message or reason for being. To improvise, you need to output all of your musicality and make decisions that you believe in. I am in a free improvisation duo in which I am the only instrumentalist. I have free reign over all of the harmonic, rhythmic, textural, and formal decisions, as well as most other things, so I'm basically composing as if it were my music, and the singer goes off what I'm doing. My main strategy is to not let anything stagnate; I make a habit of constantly changing key, meter, tempo, texture, and timbre. Going in, I know that I am going to be doing a lot of fast and busy rhythmic work, I'm going to try to make it faster, and then there is going to be a point at which time will be suspended and I will make greater use of the more delicate sounds: sonorous chords, unique timbres, silences. I do that because that is the kind of structural contrast I enjoy in music, and is informed equally by the music I like listening to, the music I've studied, the music I've composed, and things I imagine but haven't heard before. These, for me, are musical truths. For you, you might have a different idea of musicality. Discover what that is - listen to music that gives you goosebumps, and if you can't find it then make music that gives you goosebumps. Improvisation is not chord scales. You can improvise with raw fish and a comb. You might need to wash your hands after, but you can do it so long as you bring the noise.

 

[Poltergeist]

the modes really are not that much more difficult to learn compared to the major scale, I mean they are the same notes after all when thinking of them diatonically just starting on a different note in the scale. The patterns are repeating.. Just analyze the intervals in the modes on paper, then memorize them visually while applying them on the guitar, and then just experiment... Take like 2 to 3 chords, loop them and play scales/phrases/licks with different modes from different keys... Remember that youre really just comparing what intervals in the scale(mode) make them unique in comparison to the major or minor scale... It took me years to realize that concept.. and I was like what?! seriously?! when I had the epiphany.. it kinda took the mental struggle out of it. Those unique intervals in each scale/mode are the chord tones that you need to hone in on when youre playing a chord progression so it is essential to be aware of that too.. It was for me.. Hope that helps

p.s.
maybe get into sight reading, and analyzing sheet music... that should open up some new doors and challenges.

 

[rockskate4x]

For being comfortable in all the keys with whatever system you use (i learned CAGED, but there are other ways) Changing keys by going up in the circle of fifths helped me significantly. I would play all my shapes up and down in the key of C before going up a fifth (or down a fourth) to the next key which would be G. After all the shapes in G, I would do D, and after D, A etc... until i had made it through all the sharp keys, flat keys, the key of F, to finally reach C again. It sounds like a lot of work, but once you know where everything is, you can go through all 12 keys in under 4 minutes without even engaging your ultra shred mode. When you are comfortable going up the circle of fifths, it might be surprising how difficult doing it in reverse might be. Have fun

 

[Solodini]

You say you struggle changing keys as you lose your landmarks, but C# minor, Bb Major, E locrian can all be found within one position. The above mentioned method of understanding the intervals which construct each scale are part of this. This can be used to see what differences and similarities various keys have. Do this by learning what sharps and flats the keys have (cycle of fifths). Then just spend a few seconds looking at which notes you need to naturalise or move to a new accidental. You don't need to move everything so that the root note is the lowest note you can reach. As many people on this site mention to people enquiring about use of ERGs, it can be nice to reach below the root note and ascend to it to complete a cadence.

In short, my advice is to pick a position, and work on playing in different keys in that position. New day, new position, potentially the same or new scales. Paying attention to note names is important and helpful.