Hi Neil
This is an example of what confuses and frustrates me about to much information and not stopping for breath between the points you are making.
Fundamentals II - Major Scales & Patterns
Major scales .if you’re a little bit confused about scales in general or major scales in particular I want to try and clear it up, let’s talk about them, first of all in order to understand anything about any scales you have to get some of the fundamental ideas down, a scale in the first place is just a series of notes that progress from which ever note you start on to that same note again an octave higher ,you can play it more you can play it two or three, four you cant really do on the guitar, but so a scale is just a way of getting from note x to note x again an octave higher, you can start on any note, we have twelve notes in music that can be the tonic or the starting point of a scale, now what makes one scale different from another is just the exact sequence of whole steps and half steps that can be used, so most scales use whole steps and half steps between the notes, that means there can be as few as six notes in the scale or as many as twelve if you had all, so ,am, but , there are a few scales that only have five in them and we will talk about them separately , those are pentatonic scales , the major scale though is really the most fundamental of them all because if you understand major scales you can understand everything about every other scale really simply. So you want to have your major scale as like your foundation, basically your reference point is what the major scale is going to be. So one piece of ah. a constant in music and there are not many that you can’t forget is that the notes b and c and e and f are only a half step away from each other . On the guitar that means they are just one fret apart. On the piano that means they are white keys without a black key in-between. All the other notes in music are whole steps apart which means you have to go two frets. so that’s all you really have down as your starting point for understanding scales.
I hope you can put together some very short videos that are easier for the beginner to watch and learn from.
The Dancer
Confused and frustrated
Neil is without a doubt the best guitar teacher I have ever seen ( and I have seen a few). I especially like the little tangents that he may sometimes go to, however it makes it seem more personnel, I feel Neil talks to me directlly and in a friendly way, I am sure Neil will respond to your request. I would not want Neil to change anything.
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neverfoundthetime
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
- Status: Offline
Hi Dancer, I know what you mean, it can be confusing stuff. Try to filter some cornerstones of information out and the rewind to see if you got it. then go back for more. I would have take the following out of that segment. Once you get on the wavelength of the teacher it becomes easier... but this is the hardest stuff here, so I feel your pain!
Fundamentals II - Major Scales & Patterns
Major scales .if you’re a little bit confused about scales in general or major scales in particular I want to try and clear it up, let’s talk about them, first of all in order to understand anything about any scales you have to get some of the fundamental ideas down, a scale in the first place is just a series of notes that progress from which ever note you start on to that same note again an octave higher ,you can play it more you can play it two or three, four you cant really do on the guitar, but so a scale is just a way of getting from note x to note x again an octave higher, you can start on any note, we have twelve notes in music that can be the tonic or the starting point of a scale, now what makes one scale different from another is just the exact sequence of whole steps and half steps that can be used, so most scales use whole steps and half steps between the notes, that means there can be as few as six notes in the scale or as many as twelve if you had all, so ,am, but , there are a few scales that only have five in them and we will talk about them separately , those are pentatonic scales , the major scale though is really the most fundamental of them all because if you understand major scales you can understand everything about every other scale really simply. So you want to have your major scale as like your foundation, basically your reference point is what the major scale is going to be. So one piece of ah. a constant in music and there are not many that you can’t forget is that the notes b and c and e and f are only a half step away from each other . On the guitar that means they are just one fret apart. On the piano that means they are white keys without a black key in-between. All the other notes in music are whole steps apart which means you have to go two frets. so that’s all you really have down as your starting point for understanding scales.
I hope you can put together some very short videos that are easier for the beginner to watch and learn from.
The Dancer
Dancer,
I understand what you are saying but the example you posted is pretty straight forward. All of that is tightly related to and fundamental for scales. Sure, Neil drops things in the order he recalls them in, but all of that is important to the lesson.
I understand what you are saying but the example you posted is pretty straight forward. All of that is tightly related to and fundamental for scales. Sure, Neil drops things in the order he recalls them in, but all of that is important to the lesson.
Hi neverfoundthetime
I have been trying to filter out the information that is essential for me at this stage. And I have been trying to get on the same wavelength as Neil. However. Me being me, I thought I would help Neil to get on to my wavelength, because for me, communication is a two way thing. Thanks for your help and advice.
Dancer
I have been trying to filter out the information that is essential for me at this stage. And I have been trying to get on the same wavelength as Neil. However. Me being me, I thought I would help Neil to get on to my wavelength, because for me, communication is a two way thing. Thanks for your help and advice.
Dancer
Hi Jimbo58
I am not disputing that Neil is without doubt the best guitar teacher you have ever seen. And I am happy for you that you like the little tangents that he may sometimes go to, and for you it makes it seem more personnel. However. Just because you are happy and would not want Neil to change anything, does that mean I have to keep my mouth shut and not express my opinion, I think you have forgot that this is a community that is free to ask for help when it is needed. I need to help Neil understand the way I as an individual likes to lean. And for me it means only stick to the points that are essential. So the point I am trying to make is.
For Me. LESS IS MORE
Dancer
I am not disputing that Neil is without doubt the best guitar teacher you have ever seen. And I am happy for you that you like the little tangents that he may sometimes go to, and for you it makes it seem more personnel. However. Just because you are happy and would not want Neil to change anything, does that mean I have to keep my mouth shut and not express my opinion, I think you have forgot that this is a community that is free to ask for help when it is needed. I need to help Neil understand the way I as an individual likes to lean. And for me it means only stick to the points that are essential. So the point I am trying to make is.
For Me. LESS IS MORE
Dancer
Hi Dancer
I understand that you would like Neil to be more straight to the point and thats a fair comment from your point of view.
Your subject heading is titled "confused and frustrated".
Maybe part of the problem is that you don't understand what Neil is explaining and not the way he explains it.
Now I know that Neil and his team care passionately about their students, so if you are still confused about scales and modes I am sure that Neil and everybody in the forum would want to help.
Theres a tremendous wealth of knowlege here and if you have a specific question regarding scales or anything else for that matter be free to ask and you will be surprised the amount of people who are willing to help.
We are all in the same boat and we are all learning but at different stages and like you I class myself as a beginner and I'm 47.
It might also be worthwhile to view the beginner genius lessons again as it might make the scale lessons easier to understand and I'm not saying that as a clever a** because I do it all the time, and I've also gone back learning the level 2 songs because I stiill pick up pieces of info that did not register first time round.
I'm not trying to be a know it all ( far from it ) everybody here will help you in your frustration.
cheers Chacho
I understand that you would like Neil to be more straight to the point and thats a fair comment from your point of view.
Your subject heading is titled "confused and frustrated".
Maybe part of the problem is that you don't understand what Neil is explaining and not the way he explains it.
Now I know that Neil and his team care passionately about their students, so if you are still confused about scales and modes I am sure that Neil and everybody in the forum would want to help.
Theres a tremendous wealth of knowlege here and if you have a specific question regarding scales or anything else for that matter be free to ask and you will be surprised the amount of people who are willing to help.
We are all in the same boat and we are all learning but at different stages and like you I class myself as a beginner and I'm 47.
It might also be worthwhile to view the beginner genius lessons again as it might make the scale lessons easier to understand and I'm not saying that as a clever a** because I do it all the time, and I've also gone back learning the level 2 songs because I stiill pick up pieces of info that did not register first time round.
I'm not trying to be a know it all ( far from it ) everybody here will help you in your frustration.
cheers Chacho
Dancer I understand your dilemma, in a 'normal' androgynous face to face teaching situation the onus is on the teacher to adapt the teaching style to that of the learner. However, in this online situation that would be nigh impossible. Therefore, I would recommend that to satisfy your needs you may need to just use the forum and Ask Neil specific questions. This seems to work quite well for a lot of people here, Neil answers where he can and a lot of learned members will chip in and help you out. Remember the only dumb question is the one you don't ask!
It is important for an Instructor to get feedback on their teaching style because if they didn't they would never really know if they are getting through to their students or not. So good on ya for raising the issue. Who knows Neil may just take note on this issue and adapt his approach. It does raise the issue of how to complete the learning cycle though, how does Neil measure his success, how does he evaluate the system. The answer is not easy to achieve with online learning, one measure is short quizzes at the end of each lesson e-Learning style their are plenty of 'open software' platforms around this could be achieved with, if designed well. We use it through the Training college I work for, the one we use is called 'Moodle'.
regards
Chas
It is important for an Instructor to get feedback on their teaching style because if they didn't they would never really know if they are getting through to their students or not. So good on ya for raising the issue. Who knows Neil may just take note on this issue and adapt his approach. It does raise the issue of how to complete the learning cycle though, how does Neil measure his success, how does he evaluate the system. The answer is not easy to achieve with online learning, one measure is short quizzes at the end of each lesson e-Learning style their are plenty of 'open software' platforms around this could be achieved with, if designed well. We use it through the Training college I work for, the one we use is called 'Moodle'.
regards
Chas
I agree however that it would be a good idea to have a time line to follow. Without necessarily redo the video, to have at least a sequence of video to follow. With a bit of experience, it is easy to get your own answer as you have some questions to fill up which becomes a guiding line. But when you begin, you have no idea where to go. So some kind of step by step online sheet that could be in the profile per example so everybody would access to his own sheet could be interesting.
Marc
Marc