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Co-Creative Guitar Method
TUTORING TIPS
Keep your eye on this page for updates, as it will be ever evolving, as are most things in life.
I'm going
to start here with two of the most important and undervalued things
every every guitarist should do, and must know.
However, before I
teach it, I spend several lessons taking my students through
caterpillar exercises as a first point of call. I stress the importance of why
athletes warm up before a training session,
which is to prevent injury, and that we as musicians do the same.
Did you know that musicians are very prone to RSI or occupational overuse injuries,
and that it's generally caused through lack of preparation (warming up), and
is compounded by stress.
Of course there can be other factors, so a check-up at a reputable physiotherapist
is a first point of call if your having
issues like aching arms, cramped thumb, unusual weakness. In my own case it
was elastic ligaments causing me years of grief.
Nothing a good physio couldn't
fix in 10 mins - what a shame it took me 14 years to find her!
I encourage all of
my students to learn warming up habits,
and the best way to impart this discipline is to start every lesson with a warm
up.
Because I've suffered extensively myself from RSI complaints, I don't want to
teach them to be sloppy about warming up.
At least if I show them good habits, it's up to them to choose whether they
do or don't use them.
So, caterpillars are
important as a warming up exercise.
But, my ulterior motive, in fact, is to develop their agility and precision
on the guitar neck.
This is going to enhance their overall technique faster and more effectively
than anything else you could show them.
Coming back to the
Chromatic Scale, in the book, I've demonstrated the Chromatic Scale, but on
one string only.
That is because, to see the Chromatic Scale written on every string on the entire
fretboard, is completely overwhelming.
There is too much information, and the formula can easily be missed.
So what is important,
is not to learn by rote all the notes on the entire fretboard, as most books
would have you believe.
The important point is to understand the formula.
With this information any student could work out any note in any position on
any fretboard.
Scary as that fretboard might look, there are only 12 different notes to choose
from.
It's pretty simple when you break it down.
It is not unusual to find guitarists who are very good players,
and yet have no idea what notes they are playing, or that two chords of the
same shape,
in neighbouring frets, simply alter chromatically.
I've had students come to me with 10 years playing experience who did not know
the chromatic scale.
That meant that they also missed the relationship between neighbouring chords
and scales, on the fretboard.
They've learned everything in isolation. And most guitar methods teach everything
in isolation.
So as a first point
of call, it is essential that guitrarists take care of themselves by warming
up,
and secondly that one of the fundatmentals of music in any lanuguage is knowledge
of the Chromatic Scale.
After this, the most liberating thing I learned about guitar during my own studies, was the CAGED System.
This concept
made everything so clear to me, and I didn't realise at the time that it was
not very well known.
I just thought I'd been missing out on vital information, through being self
taught. Which of course I was.
CAGED is
a system which acknowledges the chord shapes of C, A, G, E, and D as being
the true open position
chords (The Five Major Chord Shapes). e.g. F at the first fret is not
a
shape of it’s own, (as many people would have you believe) it’s the
E shape moved up one fret.
If you lay those 5 shapes on the neck in the order of C,A,G,E,D, and overlap
them up the fretboard,
they can create 1 chord only, e.g. C Major.
The lesson C Major in the Five Chord Shapes (featured in Beginning
the Journey
and Colouring the Fretboard) shows how these 5 shapes overlap
each other.
To
learn more about these in a hands on practical sense, and begin to understand
your guitar and its fretboard,
work first through Beginning the Journey to make sure you have all the
foundations in guitar.
After this book,
Exploring New Worlds will take these foundations to a higher level and ensure
you have a solid musical background.
Colouring
the Fretboard can be worked on alongside these books,
as it will compliment both giving you complete and total mastery over your fretboard.
Colouring
the Fretboard - Master Edition is for those
unable to use the workbook
for disability or health reasons, time limits, and for Libraries.
This special edition is already fully coloured.
Ordering is simple.
There are 3 ways you can place an order.
You can email, fax or print & post the order form
and pay by credit card using secure PayPal, or pay by cheque (within NZ only).
If for any reason you are unsatisfied you can return the book for a full refund.
That means you have nothing to lose. You can see if this unique guitar method is for you without any risk involved.
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