GUITAR CLINIC

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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QWould Guitar Clinic be a good supplement to the following titles: 1st Steps for a Beginning Guitarist, Music Theory Vol. 1 and Vol. 2?
AMuch of the information presented in 1st Steps, Music Theory One and Two is in Guitar Clinic, so I don't think that would be a good choice. Guitar Clinic does contain some advanced techniques for improvisation such as Modal Sequencing, Approach Notes, Superimposition and Hexatonic Scales. All of these are quite cool but are more advanced concepts.

Overall you are expected to augment your serious study in these books with long hours of applying this information to chord vamps, songs and jams that you create through the knowledge you gain in these books. If you approach these books like they are giving you the raw knowledge and then you apply your own creativity you will be greatly rewarded.
 
QI have previously studied classical guitar, especially Spanish master's pieces by Tarrega, Torres and Segovia, and some Brazilians like Villalobos, obviously as an interpreter. Needless to say, in a pretty much mechanistic way since I feel my knowledge in music theory is rather too modest, not to say mediocre.

I've read outstanding reviews about your accomplished musicianship and teaching approaches and therefore I would like to get some advise from you; I am planning to purchase some of your publications and in face of your prolific editorial production I would like to count on your proficient advise to choose the right ones for me. As I said before, I have some background, I don't have huge playing limitations, in terms of my playing skills I would rank myself as an intermediate-to-advanced amateur player. I am looking forward to getting an in-depth understanding of basics in chord construction, classification and terminology, intervals and scales over chords concepts. Needless to say, exercises on modes and scales are always welcome as well as other concepts not mentioned above.
A I would recommend the following books for you.

Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volumes One and Two
Chord Workbook for Guitar Volumes One and Two
Ear Training One Note Complete
Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training
Guitar Technique Ebook

If you let me know the amount of time you have to practice I will help you with a practice schedule. If you want me to do this also let me know when throughout the day you might have 10 to 15 minutes of down time that you could do ear training exercises with a discman.

You need to go to www.arnoldjazz.com and the music workshop and download the 19 scales. You want to learn a new scale each week. You are going to first work your way through all the C modes so first C major all positions then C dorian positions etc. Remember we are learning note names and degrees here not just fingering positions. I would pay close attention to your technique and look in a mirror to check out your hand. Reference the Guitar Technique book and be anal about this because the more relaxed and close to the neck your hand is the better you are going to play.

You also want to spend time playing/improvising with these scales. Use the midifiles and progressions connected to the book or create your own. Download the applying music theory article from the member's area this will give you other ideas on sequencing scales.

PS Guitar Clinic would also be a good book because the back of the book contains information on 3 very important concepts of improvisation.
 
QI have obtained the following books:

Guitar technique (thanks for the email version)
Guitar clinic
Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Vol 2
ET one note complete
Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training
Rhythm primer
Rhythms Vol 1
Single String Studies Vol 1
Chord Workbook Vol 1

Rhythm primer: started working assignments on page xxi. These are not difficult for me, but the faster tempos (whole note = much above 60) seem excessive in that by that point I think I have gotten what I need out of the exercise from a reading standpoint.

ET one note: I read through the book and understand what you are saying. I was on the road in the car a lot this week with the first CD on random play. What a blast! I get more than 80% right overall, but have particular problems with b5, b7 and the highest register for some unknown reason. I'm working on it.

Fanatic's guide: I can sing 1, 3 and 5 in all keys and am working on the other diatonic tones.

Let me also say that I am deeply impressed by your scholarship and dedication. I have been teaching and studying for years and have never seen such a comprehensive and well-thought-out method.

I could use some guidance through this vast forest of material. What next?
AThe reason for the faster tempos in Rhythm Primer is to get your eye moving quickly across measures of music. Don't underestimate the importance of this. You should also check out the file on beat reading found in the member's area. This is closely related to training your eye to move ahead of the music which is key to sight reading.

As far as the other books first check out the modal sequencing information found in the Guitar Clinic and the Applying music theory in the member's area. As mentioned before I want you get all 19 scales listed on the www.arnoldjazz.com music workshop website down in all keys from every degree. Remember we are just doing an introduction to all these scales they don't have to be fast but they need to be consistent and Gb major should be as strong as C major. We are working towards using the 19 modes as a warm up everyday. So you might for instance run through all 19 modes in one key from every degree for a warm up. This will take time to reach that point but sooner or later you should be able to do this in 20 to 30 minutes. But for now you want to make sure you know all of these scales by playing all of them in every key. You can also use flash cards to test yourself.

Make the following flash cards:

1 set with list of all 19 scales
1 set with degress 1-7
1 set with all keys.

Flip over one card from each set and play the scale. Along with these technical ways of working on the scales complete the exercises in Music Theory for Guitar Volume Two and play along with the vamps that are suggested for each scale type. Remember there are midifiles of these progressions on line at:

http://www.muse-eek.com/books/mtwbforguit2/midi.html


For sight reading you want to do this for 1 hour a day. Do 10 minutes out of each of the following books:

Rhythm primer: try to do these as fast as possible
Rhythms Vol 1: metronome on 2 and 4 read with a swing feel if you tap your foot do it on 1 or 1 and 3.
Single String Studies Vol 1: One page a day move through the book by string. So first low E string in C major then A string in C major, D string in C major etc.
Chord Workbook Vol 1: Learn one new chord progression a week. You can also find examples of me playing these progressions at:

http://www.muse-eek.com/books/chord1/mp3.html

Augment this time with reading out of books check out of the library or other sources. Remember to read as many types of music and manuscripts as you can find.

Ear training continue as you have described, seems like your on the right track.

If you have more questions let me know. I would like to move on past scales in a few months so try to get all the scales together. Study the concepts of modal sequencing and rhythmic variation that I have set forth in the member's area files and Guitar Clinic.
 
QI'm am old student of yours from Berklee in the 80's. We've seen each other from time to time. I'm sure you'd remember me from just around town if you saw me. I actually have a question; do you have a book that teaches about the hexatonics and how to apply them them to improvisation?
AI have a couple of books that show you information on the hexatonic stuff:

MY MUSIC: Explorations in the Application of 12 Tone Techniques to Jazz Composition and Improvisation
Guitar Clinic

You can get those at amazon.com, bn.com or the quickest for you would be www.muse-eek.com because they are in NYC.
 
QI looked at the site and see that the Guitar Clinic book looks real good! according to the table of contents. I can probably use it to teach as well. The other book looks good as well. I wish I can look at them before buying one. If there used at NYU, would their book store sell the books? can I go there and see them? I assume it would be better to get them from you.
AThere really isn't a retail outlet in Manhattan. The Guitar Clinic is going to explain how to practice one hexatonic along with a historical perspective. The My Music Book gives you all the hexatonics I've used on three of my CDs along with 10 or so audio tracks from my CDs. None of these books discuss how to use it over a standard but I think you could figure out the simple applications yourself. The more advanced applications would have to wait until I have a book out on that.