• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

MBTI Types and Guitar Learning Styles: My Observations

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
OK, so someone's post on the "NTs who enjoy performing arts" thread made me think about this, and I had to write down my thoughts.

Background: I make a good portion of my living teaching private in-home music lessons (mostly guitar, but also piano and occasional bass) to children around the metro Atlanta area, and there are a lot of really interesting parallels between my type observations on the kids and their learning styles.

I don't imagine there are too many people teaching private, one-on-one music lessons semi-professionally and obsessively MBTI-ing their students, so maybe this will contribute something unique to the forum canon. Who knows?

Anyway, I've had students from all the temperaments. Probably not every single type, but the ones I can remember having include, but are not limited to: all the NTs, ENFP, INFP, ISTP, ISFP, ESFP, ISTJ, ISFJ and ESFJ. (Apparently I've never had an NFJ or EST student. Hmm...)

The SPs are the ones who want to brute force memorize all the data they need to play specific songs they enjoy, but none of the context. They not only don't give a damn about music theory, they actively avoid it. This approach tends to fail after a couple of years because it results in a lot of fragmented knowledge on certain extremely specific areas and very little to tie it all together into confident, cohesive playing. (On the plus side, it provides endless business for me, the teacher.)

One caveat, though: I did know one ESFP guitarist in college who was very into metal and could accurately get through, note for note, some extremely difficult material with astonishing technique. He couldn't write an original song for the life of him, but he did understand the value of iNtuition as it relates to music and thus had a much better understanding of theory than most people at my music school.

"I don't care what the name of the chord is; where do I put my fingers?" is what I hear from one ISTP student in particular, constantly. He never wants to play anything to a metronome, just wants to memorize how it sounds and play solely from that. As such his rhythmic understanding is comparatively quite weak, and it really holds him back.

NT students usually delight in learning all the little theoretical intricacies that explain why the music is enjoyable, why this approach sounds better than that approach, and so on. NTJ students, in particular, will actively search for flaws and inconsistencies in their playing and pointedly ask you to demonstrate how to improve upon them! What a blessing! As long as they are enjoying themselves, they are often the best students.

NF students are fairly similar to NTs in their broad, generalized learning approach, but they're generally less interested in technique and won't practice something much if it isn't a song that deeply moves them. One 8 year old ENFP student loves to make up new chord forms, ask me what chord THIS is, and then forget all about them. Part of this is just being 8 years old, but he's constantly experimenting with the guitar to make new fun sounds come out of it--and unfortunately he doesn't care enough about practicing formal technique (that's boring!) to really be very good at it just yet!

SJ students are very by the book, and they have an advantage in terms of work ethic and always being willing to practice what you tell them to. They have a bit of a tendency to focus too much on particular, singular aspects of their playing (one ISTJ student absolutely loves note reading) to the exclusion of others, but they generally take your authority as teacher so seriously that if you calmly and gently point out the areas where they need improvement, they will actively work on those skills until they improve. Also generally pretty good students to have.
 

Kasper

Diabolical
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
11,590
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Guess I learn more like a SP according to that. I detest theory, after learning piano, violin and cello as a kid for years and years I still can't sight read, it never interested me actually more than that I hated that aspect, I’ve always played by ear and feel. Music isn't a technical thing for me it's about feeling it. My old bass teacher quickly gave up trying to get me to read things and just concentrated on showing me technique.

My ISFP sister is similar but she did do the theory where I silently refused.
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Guess I learn more like a SP according to that. I detest theory, after learning piano, violin and cello as a kid for years and years I still can't sight read, it never interested me actually more than that I hated that aspect, I’ve always played by ear and feel. Music isn't a technical thing for me it's about feeling it. My old bass teacher quickly gave up trying to get me to read things and just concentrated on showing me technique.

My ISFP sister is similar but she did do the theory where I silently refused.

Some NTs take this attitude because they don't like being told the right way to do things. After a while, though, you realize that actively avoiding theory is cutting off your nose to spite your face--it only limits your understanding.

Theory alone doesn't make you write a good song, but it does let you quickly eliminate a lot of possibilities when you're trying to find exactly the pattern that sounds right to you, and thus vastly streamlines the process.

Learning theory doesn't mean you have to ignore feeling at all. It's a combination of technique+feeling that makes the best players...technique just helps you express your feelings through music more efficiently, and it's really kind of silly to see so many people avoiding it out of some misguided fear that it will squelch their inner creative muse. People who think that inevitably don't know anything about theory, and are never as good as they could be if they'd bother to learn a little about it.

Of course, all theory/no heart can be a problem too and this one manifests itself most often in STJ musicians. Less experienced ones tend to think being able to perfectly imitate the sound of others or play precisely every note on the page makes them fantastic players, although some NTs will do this too, just in more original combinations of technical overcompensation. That asshole that does a 14-minute uber-technical bass solo at the local bar gig is probably an NT. ;)

Anyway though you shouldn't fear theory. It doesn't seek to destroy your artistic vision; that's a purely subjective matter--it seeks only to teach you how to find that vision and make it reality more quickly. Technique+Expression=good music, and a great way to make your music suffer is to neglect one and overdevelop the other.
 

Tallulah

Emerging
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
6,009
MBTI Type
INTP
I'm so glad you started this thread! I have been wondering how type affects guitar-learning, having taken lessons myself and then showing my friends how to play what I've learned, as well as just observing the guitar monsters.

I think my INTP way of approaching the guitar might have actually held me back a bit the first few years I played. I had taken piano lessons growing up, and was quite good at it, especially sight-reading and putting my own spin on the notes and rhythm of the piece. Theory bored me, but I learned it anyway--but it never occurred to me that I could use theory in order to compose my own songs or learn to play "by ear." When I came to the guitar, I understood that note-reading wouldn't be as useful, but theory and my ear would be, so I was excited about that. I think, though, that I tried to intellectually learn everything I could about the guitar, and tried to connect each new piece of information to what I already knew, hoping I could understand the guitar like my teacher did. What I conveniently forgot was that a) my hands weren't yet up to the task, and b) my teacher had been playing for 35 years and I was just starting.

Another problem I ran into was that my musical interests, particularly where guitar styles were concerned were so varied that I would want to learn a little bit about every genre, rather than really learning the ins and outs of one in particular and then expanding. So I'd learn a bit of classical technique, then some power chords, then a country riff, then a few jazz chords, then a surf rock song, etc. I just couldn't make myself focus, and my teacher knew I'd probably be bored if he didn't allow me to learn what I wanted--and his tastes were pretty much identical to mine, so he knew everything I'd throw at him.

Another big problem I had is hand strength, since I'm a woman (though some of my girl friends had much stronger hands starting off than I did), and I'd experience extreme frustration over not being able to get a clear and consistent sound from some barre chords, or not being able to get a certain pull-off b/c my fingers were wimpy. This would mess with my brain, though, and I would wonder if I'd EVER be able to play like I really wanted to.

Now that I'm in a band, I think it's helped me immensely--the focus and repetition of certain songs instead of dividing my focus, playing with others and seeing where I fit, and also just relaxing and learning new stuff a bit at a time, rather than feeling like I have to know everything all at once. I think I'm poised to make better and faster progress now.

Do you have any tips for NTs? Practice tips, anything? I'd love to hear more of your thoughts.
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I played piano via formal lessons and acoustic guitar because everybody in my family plays guitar and it's like learning to talk -- you just do it, nobody should have to teach you.

I had to focus on technique with piano, but I don't understand equating technique to theory. As I understand technique, it's about hand position and posture, etc.

I learned elementary sing-along strumming guitar by watching my dad and my uncles and cousins play, and I can play almost anything by ear.

I used to ask my piano teacher if she would play the new song for me once. She'd play it and I'd hear it and then I'd play it better for her next week. :-D It was two years before she realized I couldn't read a note.

I never liked music lessons.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I really don't like any musical instruments. I highly doubt the interest is sparked just from type. Not saying you think that, but some people here tend to think that hobbies = MBTI. :doh:

But yes, I think your short essay of sorts could apply to any sorts of lessons and how someone will learn. Nice one.
 

Venom

Babylon Candle
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
2,126
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
ive been playing for 6 years. took lessons for the first 3.

all i wanted to learn in lessons was technique. i wanted to master: scales, alternate picking, string skipping, legato vs staccato runs, arpeggios, sweeping etc. i always wanted harder exercises, better technique or use of theory etc.

i really had no desire to learn a specific song, even though i loved listening to music (especially metal). i think i just intuitevly knew that i needed to have the chops before i got bogged down trying to learn songs.

so as a result, i could REALLY wank around quite well, wether it was pentatonic bluesly stuff, or more melodic stuff... but i always got shit because i wasnt that asshole who knew how to play every "sublime" song (god i HATE those people!)

within the last year i finally started learning full songs...almost out of nowhere i just started. i think in the first week i started i learned like 8 metallica songs haha.
 

Shaula

Te > Fi > Ni
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
608
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
4w5
Interesting observation. I like learning about music theory and applying it the most these days but when I was younger I was more insterested in gaining skills.
 

BlueScreen

Fail 2.0
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
2,668
MBTI Type
YMCA
I have the same problem as the 8 year old you mentioned. I learn new chords and skills then take them where ever. My ability to focus and just learn a song is pretty bad. My ability to use what I know and do a lot with a little is pretty good though. I can write a song by just sitting there and letting my mind go. And it doesn't really go to the shits like you'd expect. I let myself start playing and let go, and my mind just creates stuff. That's how I play guitar most of the time. I can't play much that anyone else has written, though I'm starting to learn now it is interesting me.
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I'm so glad you started this thread! I have been wondering how type affects guitar-learning, having taken lessons myself and then showing my friends how to play what I've learned, as well as just observing the guitar monsters.

I think my INTP way of approaching the guitar might have actually held me back a bit the first few years I played. I had taken piano lessons growing up, and was quite good at it, especially sight-reading and putting my own spin on the notes and rhythm of the piece. Theory bored me, but I learned it anyway--but it never occurred to me that I could use theory in order to compose my own songs or learn to play "by ear." When I came to the guitar, I understood that note-reading wouldn't be as useful, but theory and my ear would be, so I was excited about that. I think, though, that I tried to intellectually learn everything I could about the guitar, and tried to connect each new piece of information to what I already knew, hoping I could understand the guitar like my teacher did. What I conveniently forgot was that a) my hands weren't yet up to the task, and b) my teacher had been playing for 35 years and I was just starting.

Another problem I ran into was that my musical interests, particularly where guitar styles were concerned were so varied that I would want to learn a little bit about every genre, rather than really learning the ins and outs of one in particular and then expanding. So I'd learn a bit of classical technique, then some power chords, then a country riff, then a few jazz chords, then a surf rock song, etc. I just couldn't make myself focus, and my teacher knew I'd probably be bored if he didn't allow me to learn what I wanted--and his tastes were pretty much identical to mine, so he knew everything I'd throw at him.

Another big problem I had is hand strength, since I'm a woman (though some of my girl friends had much stronger hands starting off than I did), and I'd experience extreme frustration over not being able to get a clear and consistent sound from some barre chords, or not being able to get a certain pull-off b/c my fingers were wimpy. This would mess with my brain, though, and I would wonder if I'd EVER be able to play like I really wanted to.

Now that I'm in a band, I think it's helped me immensely--the focus and repetition of certain songs instead of dividing my focus, playing with others and seeing where I fit, and also just relaxing and learning new stuff a bit at a time, rather than feeling like I have to know everything all at once. I think I'm poised to make better and faster progress now.

Do you have any tips for NTs? Practice tips, anything? I'd love to hear more of your thoughts.

The hand strength issues happen to everyone at first. Being a woman isn't the problem. I've seen women tear up the upright bass, and if you think guitar is bad on your hands, or even bass guitar (which is significantly worse than guitar), you simply haven't had the pleasure of attempting upright bass yet--blows both out of the water in terms of wear and tear on your hands/muscle strength requirements.

Learning too much abstract theory with no focus on practical skills is the classic excessive-N mistake. Music requires a unique combination of S and N skills, and it takes a lot of work to develop both. Truly though, it doesn't matter what music you're practicing as long as:

A) You enjoy it,
B) You're constantly playing with a metronome to develop a solid sense of time, and
C) You take every opportunity you can get to play with anyone more experienced than you. You can learn something from almost everyone. How to get better, you ask?

"We've been robbing REM blind for years."
--Thom Yorke, vocals/guitar/piano, Radiohead

"I totally rip off my influences."
--Jose Pasillas, drums, Incubus

"People used to say to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic!' This couldn't be further from the truth. John and I used to literally sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'"
--Paul McCartney

Many NTs neglect B quite often because it's more fun to learn every modal permutation of this scale, get stoned and jam on new combinations forever. NTs often try to run before they can walk...I did this myself, and then had to go back and play constantly with a metronome to train myself in basic timing. It's harder than it seems, especially for a strong N.

As for playing for the enjoyment of the experience, this is one area where the SPs have it right. The sheer amount of practice time it takes to be any good at music (as with most things) makes the return on investment so poor for so long that it's just not worth the time, money, effort, blood, sweat and tears if you don't absolutely love it, even when you suck.

Another thing to remember is that everyone, absolutely everyone, sucks at first. Yes, even at singing! American Idol culture would have you believe that singing is a God-given talent where you're either phenomenal from birth, or doomed to be awful for all eternity. No no no, singing is just another instrument that requires hundreds of hours of focused cultivation to sound good in a live performance setting--being talented just means you don't have to practice *quite as much* as other people; it's absolutely not a necessity for anyone who genuinely enjoys music and is willing to consistently work hard on it. (Obviously the very best players are both talented and very hard workers, but remember that hard work>>>talent any day...before you swim, you've gotta be ok to sink!)

On that note, get used to failure. A lot of it. NTs have trouble with this sometimes because they so insist on technical competence, but you will fail, and fail, and fail, and fail and fail again. Lots of disheartening things will happen. Even great musicians aren't perfect and everyone has bad nights, but the more experience you gain, the less bad your bad nights are, until eventually they're virtually indistinguishable to the average non-musician listener.

But this takes YEARS! It's a very slow process that involves an enormous amount of trial and error, and the most important thing is getting back on the horse after you fall. Failure isn't so scary when you learn to harness it as a learning mechanism.
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
ive been playing for 6 years. took lessons for the first 3.

all i wanted to learn in lessons was technique. i wanted to master: scales, alternate picking, string skipping, legato vs staccato runs, arpeggios, sweeping etc. i always wanted harder exercises, better technique or use of theory etc.

i really had no desire to learn a specific song, even though i loved listening to music (especially metal). i think i just intuitevly knew that i needed to have the chops before i got bogged down trying to learn songs.

so as a result, i could REALLY wank around quite well, wether it was pentatonic bluesly stuff, or more melodic stuff... but i always got shit because i wasnt that asshole who knew how to play every "sublime" song (god i HATE those people!)

within the last year i finally started learning full songs...almost out of nowhere i just started. i think in the first week i started i learned like 8 metallica songs haha.


Classic NT musician syndrome. I played bass in a band in high school where we did a lot of goofy technical shit and used 8 million pedals, but our songs weren't really that good. I was obsessed with uber technique for a long time; Victor Wooten was my hero. One day I kind of realized that nobody really cares how good your chops are if you don't have any unique expression or artistry to your playing.

There's a very popular Sublime tribute band around Atlanta here, actually. I play in an Incubus tribute band and we've been working to get some opening gigs with them, because they have a big draw. They have a big draw because they play songs that people care about. Funny that I don't see any Dream Theater tribute bands making money on the club circuit, no?

I'm sure Yngwie Malmsteen could have shredded George Harrison into the ground, but which one has lasting cultural impact?

More to the point, which one do people care about?
 

Tallulah

Emerging
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
6,009
MBTI Type
INTP
Thank you, simulatedworld! That was extremely helpful and encouraging!

And yeah, I stuck with it because I loved it, even through the monstrous suckage! I'm learning a lot quicker now...just never as quickly as I want! :smile:
 
Last edited:

BerberElla

12 and a half weeks
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
2,725
MBTI Type
infp
Another thing to remember is that everyone, absolutely everyone, sucks at first. Yes, even at singing! American Idol culture would have you believe that singing is a God-given talent where you're either phenomenal from birth, or doomed to be awful for all eternity. No no no, singing is just another instrument that requires hundreds of hours of focused cultivation to sound good in a live performance setting--being talented just means you don't have to practice *quite as much* as other people; it's absolutely not a necessity for anyone who genuinely enjoys music and is willing to consistently work hard on it. (Obviously the very best players are both talented and very hard workers, but remember that hard work>>>talent any day...before you swim, you've gotta be ok to sink!)

I've always wanted to learn to sing but I figured it was just like you said, you were either born with an amazing voice, or you weren't, end of dream lol. I see the classes for training your voice etc and I assumed they were just a rip off. It's not that I sound bad, I've been told I sound good, and it's not even so that I can be a singer for people, but I write songs, and I am learning to play the piano and I would like to sell my songs, but want to sing them decently for demos.

Heh, guess I will enrol in that class in april then.
 

Gauche

New member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
333
I've been learning to play the guitar for about 2-3 years, completely self-taught, never attended anything regular, never taught by anyone.
I'd say my style would fit best NT and NF descriptions. I've been always mad about mastering the scales, the chord progressions and theoretical connections and then only to improvise from the gut like hell. I've been also learning new families of chords systematically, but rote practice was kind of exhausting for me, and I've never stood long with that. I've learned about 2-3 whole songs, but many short themes, and some badass solos as well. I was also mad about techniques, I remeber the times when I couldn't even pick properly, but I had been bending like hell already. I've also composed a few licks, solos, and the whole song skelets.

Though I was an amateur and not playing for very long, all my fellow-guitarists from classroom was amazed by my theoretical basis and techniques, and then always came to me to tune a guitar or to ask about some theoretical shit. They practiced let's say for the same time as me. Never been into theory though and I was mentoring them from time to time. I must note I really suck at the clearness of the play; technical mistakes here and there

Currently, I play only occasionally for pleasure, and not learning anything new. It's the thing of motivation and priorities. But I'm convinced I'd once return back to it and beat the crap out of that guitar :)
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I've always wanted to learn to sing but I figured it was just like you said, you were either born with an amazing voice, or you weren't, end of dream lol. I see the classes for training your voice etc and I assumed they were just a rip off. It's not that I sound bad, I've been told I sound good, and it's not even so that I can be a singer for people, but I write songs, and I am learning to play the piano and I would like to sell my songs, but want to sing them decently for demos.

Heh, guess I will enrol in that class in april then.

Do it. The way I learned was sort of by accident; I had a delivery job so I was in the car like upwards of 20 hours a week and I just used the time to sing with CDs until I figured out what I was doing. After a while I started taking weekly lessons from a local opera singer, and within several months I was good enough to start singing at local clubs with bands and such.

It's just a really gradual process and it takes an awful lot of patience--remember, singing is an instrument too. You don't pick up a guitar and expect to be good the first time you touch it, so why would you expect to be good the first time you make a serious attempt at learning to sing well?

Don't give up...remember:

1) Drink a metric shit ton of water. This is like oil for an engine; if you try to sing full force without drinking copious amounts of water you will kill your throat. (That said, there is a limit...I've gotten water poisoning a couple of times because my voice needed rest and I mistook that feeling for dehydration. It's not pleasant; if you start to feel sick, just stop.)

2) Spend a lot of time stretching and opening up your breathing beforehand. Air and Water are the two most important things. It helps to do some physical exercise before singing in order to get your blood flowing/lung span up.

3) This one comes in a little later, but...let go of your attachment to lyrics/specific pronunciations. Learn to sing the song with just nonsense words, no lyrics, whatever way you can shape your mouth/throat to make those notes come out RELAXED. Ever wonder why every famous singer has certain words or phrases that s/he pronounces like a total weirdo? That's because the higher you go, the less picky you can be about pronunciation/mouth shape and still get the pitch you want without physically hurting your throat. (In other words, no, Fall Out Boy isn't actually singing, "This ain't a city, it's a golf cart ass face"; it just sounds that way because the notes are really high and so the singer is forced to place pitch and tone as higher priorities than precise vowel/consonant shapes.)
 

Tallulah

Emerging
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
6,009
MBTI Type
INTP
Excellent singing tips!

What's the best way to really learn the fretboard?
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Excellent singing tips!

What's the best way to really learn the fretboard?

Pick a note at random and practice playing every single instance of that note on the whole fretboard in succession. (e.g., "Now I will play every F# on the whole neck.") Try to visualize everything above 12th fret as the same thing as everything below it...i.e, 15th fret = 3rd, 17th = 5th, and so on.

Also learn little shortcuts for transferring notes up/down octaves and to different strings. The best one is 2 frets+2 strings = an octave. If you're trying to think of what note 8th fret G is, go down 2 frets+2 strings to 6th fret A, which hopefully you can remember as Eb.

Also 7 frets+1 string accomplishes the same thing, or 12 frets up or down on the same string. There are 5 frets difference between strings in every instance except between the G and B (which I address below.) So if you've got 3rd fret on the D string, you can get the same note at 8th fret on the A, or 13th on the low E (or even 18th on the extra low B string, if you have a 7-string guitar.)

The only exception is when you cross the barrier between the G and B strings--this is the only place on the guitar where the interval between the open strings is not a fourth (it's a major third instead.) So, imagine this barrier between G and B, and any time you use any of these patterns across this barrier, all notes on the B and high E strings must be compensated up one fret. (So, for instance, going UP an octave from 8th fret G would actually put you on 11th fret high E, not 10th, since you've crossed the G/B barrier.)

Figure out all of your scales in 3 octaves. This forces you to actually spread them out across the neck instead of sticking to limited areas.

(On a side note, I am genuinely perplexed by this reputation message from proteanmix telling me that this post didn't say anything new. Really? I got a lot more reputation from several different people telling me they found it interesting and insightful. Wtf is s/he talking about?)
 

Tallulah

Emerging
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
6,009
MBTI Type
INTP
Pick a note at random and practice playing every single instance of that note on the whole fretboard in succession. (e.g., "Now I will play every F# on the whole neck.") Try to visualize everything above 12th fret as the same thing as everything below it...i.e, 15th fret = 3rd, 17th = 5th, and so on.

Also learn little shortcuts for transferring notes up/down octaves and to different strings. The best one is 2 frets+2 strings = an octave. If you're trying to think of what note 8th fret G is, go down 2 frets+2 strings to 6th fret A, which hopefully you can remember as Eb.

Also 7 frets+1 string accomplishes the same thing, or 12 frets up or down on the same string. There are 5 frets difference between strings in every instance except between the G and B (which I address below.) So if you've got 3rd fret on the D string, you can get the same note at 8th fret on the A, or 13th on the low E (or even 18th on the extra low B string, if you have a 7-string guitar.)

The only exception is when you cross the barrier between the G and B strings--this is the only place on the guitar where the interval between the open strings is not a fourth (it's a major third instead.) So, imagine this barrier between G and B, and any time you use any of these patterns across this barrier, all notes on the B and high E strings must be compensated up one fret. (So, for instance, going UP an octave from 8th fret G would actually put you on 11th fret high E, not 10th, since you've crossed the G/B barrier.)

Figure out all of your scales in 3 octaves. This forces you to actually spread them out across the neck instead of sticking to limited areas.

(On a side note, I am genuinely perplexed by this reputation message from proteanmix telling me that this post didn't say anything new. Really? I got a lot more reputation from several different people telling me they found it interesting and insightful. Wtf is s/he talking about?)

Oh, thank you! I'm going to print this out and work with it. I feel like I won't really be a real player until I really know the fretboard, you know? I feel like I'm just learning chords and songs.

I don't know what the neg/neutral rep was about--I think it's HIGHLY helpful for musicians! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Oh, thank you! I'm going to print this out and work with it. I feel like I won't really be a real player until I really know the fretboard, you know? I feel like I'm just learning chords and songs.

I don't know what the neg/neutral rep was about--I think it's HIGHLY helpful for musicians! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I mean yeah at this point it's just a matter of practicing scales (both regular and intervallic) to become comfortable with different keys, and conceptualizing them as such (functional keys with scale degrees, not just fret numbers.)

I'm sure you know regular scales, but an intervallic scale takes each note of the scale and then follows it with a note a certain interval up (say 3rds or 5ths or 6ths), but sharping or flatting the notes to stay in key. For instance, regular C scale:

C D E F G A B C

Intervallic C scale in 3rds:

C E D F E G F A G B A C B D C

See, it's still the scale, but interspersed with the note either a minor third(3 half steps) or a major third (4 half steps) above each scale degree. So the 1st, then 3rd...2nd, then 4th...3rd, then 5th...and so on through the whole scale. Practicing these for each interval will really help to liven up your improvisation because it teaches you to do more than just go to the very next adjacent note in the scale.
 

Tallulah

Emerging
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
6,009
MBTI Type
INTP
^^

Oh, that's a good idea, b/c I had noticed that when I was learning scales before, I kind of got stuck in the same patterns when I tried to learn to solo. So I just kinda gave up trying to solo for a while. :doh:
 
Top