major scale segments

Here's how I divide up the major scale for purposes of fingering:

7-1-2
1-2-3
2-3-4
3-4-5
4-5-6
5-6
6-7-1

It's a pleasing coincidence that there are seven segments, just like there are seven pitches in the scale.

Finger independence helps with sight reading

Working on the finger independence trills has dramatically helped my technique and I've noticed that this has helped my sight reading. When your fingers are equally strong, then you don't have to be as picky about what finger you use to play what; this helps to make sight reading speedy because you don't have to pause every few bars to work out the fingering.

Register of primary diagonal for each pitch . . .

Okay, here's the main diagonal I envision for each pitch on the guitar:

A4 and A3 (both diagonals necessary)
A#4 and A#3 (ditto)
Bb#4 and Bb3
B3
C4
C#4/Db4
D4
D#4/Eb4
E4
F4
F#4/Gb4
G4
G#4/Ab4

That makes the middle C octave the octave of choice for each diagonal on the guitar, with the exception of the A#, A, Bb, and B diagonals.

That means the guitar is, primarily, a middle-range instrument. Lower sounds and higher sounds are like special effects.

#4 Drills to tighten things up . . .

Wow, seeing the diagonals makes things soooooooo much easier. I don't get lost moving my way around the fretboard, I can slide inside and outside of different shapes and I know exactly where I am on a piano keyboard. I still hit some wrong notes, though. Here's some stuff I'm gonna do to tighten things up:

1) visualize all box shapes in my head, starting with just the top octave of each shape. Will do this for major and minor pentatonic right now. My first goal is to tighten up playing "on top" of the diagonal.

2) practice horizontal sliding scales in each key. This involves spelling the scale in my head and then play it sliding to the left, or down starting at each root located on the diagonal.

An "a-ha" moment!

Yay! My work on diagonals is paying off. I saw a grand diagonal of E4s all the way across the fretboard from string 1 to string 6. That was exciting because it was a moment of complete peripheral vision: in other words, I can see where a particular scale is in every place it happens all over the fretboard in one glance. That has never happened before . . .

Trill tempos 3-4

RH = 100 bpm
LH = 84 bpm

#3 Singing with closed vocal chords

I've gotten pretty good at "releasing" the tone, that is singing without straining by engaging the throat muscles we use to swallow. I've trained those rogue muscles to relax, but at the expense of having my vocal chords properly. So my tone is light and free throughout my range, but it isn't very powerful and it sounds a bit light and operatic. Turns out pop music is the hardest to sing correctly because it requires the vocal chords to come together securely to create a tone that has very little vibrato and is very close to speech. Most singers, to get that sound, strain their voice and engage their swallowing muscles: that closes the vocal chords without fail, but the tone is tight. Releasing the tone (not using the swallowing muscles) but still keeping the vocal chords tight is a real trick that few singers have mastered. Maybe only the greats. But, at the risk of sounding cocky, I'm gonna get there. To drill, I sing a loud "Aaaaa" throughout my range. It's ugly as hell, but saying "aa" as in "bat" or "cat" forces the vocal chords to stay closed.

By the way, keeping the vocal chords closed and tight together is what it means to "press in" . . . a term some singing teachers love. Pressing in is not exclusively about singing louder or pumping more air through your body, although that's part of it. The foundation of it is keeping those vocal chords tight together, which results in volume and proper breath support.

#2) Intervals on the guitar

I've made a flashcard for every interval you can create above an open string, all the way up to a 13th. Some of my guitars go up to a 14th, but 14ths are sounding too theoretical, so I'm starting memorizing 13ths. What I do for each interval is envision of the name of the note and register of that note formed above each open string.

#1 Interval Flashcard Drills

So, this is what I'm doing with my flashcards as of now.

1) sing all intervals up and down
2) sing all major chords, root, 1st, and 2nd inversion using the flat, natural, and sharp spellings for each family
3) ditto for minor chords, augmented chords, and diminished chords
4) sing all dominant seventh chords up and down
5) sing all major seventh chords up and down

Remember . . . if you can sing it you can hear it . . . if you can hear it, you can play it . . .

How is everyone doing?

Hi Everyone,
Making these lesson vids is so fun. Has anyone tried 'em?