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starting out with “I struggle to learn theory” and then making an excuse for your age isn’t going to get you in a good frame of mind. Its also giving you ready made excuses when you come across a hurdle.
im only a couple of years behind you in age and I relish learning new stuff. Not just on guitar.
I recently started to learn modes. Chose 1 at random (Phrygian) got a backing track, did a bit of reading, watched a ton of YouTube vids and was having fun in no time.
then I moved on to Dorian and was sounding like Santana in a few minutes.
it’s not hard but you do have to be prepared to apply yourself.
good luck.
So try this, every time the chord changes target either the 3rd or the fifth note of that chords scale .... so bend into that note or slide into it or just land on that note at the time the chord changes.
This is the secret to proper melodic solo'ing, knowing what chords you are playing over and targeting notes from within that chord. If you examine the masters, like Gilmour you will notice they do it all the time.
Here are diagrams of the different modes: https://appliedguitartheory.com/lessons/3-notes-per-string-major-scale-patterns/
What you'll notice as you go through them is there are only three variations of three note patterns on a string, and that these patterns always repeat in the same order. There's three in a row with two big stretches, then two in a row with fingers 1 2 4, then two more with 1 3 4, then it's back to the big stretches. It just goes on and on and it's the same for every mode
If you drill these for long enough it will become automatic, You don't have to sit there doing it for hours, that's a waste of time, but something like 10 minutes a day is good.
Once you're familiar with the individual scales you can start to join them up and move horizontally on the fretboard. Also, you can start relating these patterns to the pentatonic scale and combining the two approaches
Speaking of pentatonic, there are five positions for the pentatonic scale so you can take the same approach of memorising these and then connecting them up to move horizontally
After becoming familiar with these I started looking at arpeggios and chord tone soloing. I think that's the last piece of the puzzle I think
Backing track E major
In youtube, and stick to major keys
and force yourself to play along in major scale (obvs need to learn it first) but soon you'll memorise the patterns and be shredding in the lydian and mixolodyian modes and never look back.
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1 3 5
1 3 5
1 3 5
1 2 4
1 2 4
1 3 4
1 3 4 and then start again 135 135 135 etc
(that’s 7 strings so it shows the same pattern can be extended from 6 to 7 to 8 or more strings, so very helpful if you have a 7 or 8 string guitar (tuned in 4ths below the low E string if that’s your thing)
There are 2 additional “rules” - the first is that when you move from the 135 to 124 you move up a fret; and the other is that you move up a fret when you reach the B string.
the second bit of magic , as I call it, is that each of the modes starts from one of those 7 patterns - you don’t have to learn anything else - all the modes are there.
if you want a Minor / Aeolian you start with a 134 134 then continue 135 135 124 124
And each of the other modes start at one of the other 7; if you like Locrian start 124 124, then 134 134, 135 135
If you like Mixolydian start 135 135 135, then 124 124 134 134
I think as well the only way is to really connect with the instrument ...I mean iff you didn't have a guitar at hand but you started thinking of ideas in your head over a backing track ...it probably wouldn't be a blues scale it would be more musical and probably less notes ... and better phrasing ...I think a lot of what we do is muscle memory instead of really thinking of what we would like things to sound like
But I've said largely the same stuff on a number of threads.
Daily practice, working with a metronome at a super slow speed.
Learn the major scale modes, arpeggios and play changes as arpeggios.
Other than that it really comes down to transcription.
Transcribe solos daily- not from tab- figure it out by ear.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
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Looking back I kind of understood what modes were and how to use them from a theoretical point of view. What I didn't have was any 'flying hours' using them.
I think I wanted to master them in an afternoon too! That created a lot of mental blocks for me that I just couldn't get my head around it.
This time as I've said I picked 1 mode. Actually 1 pattern from 1 mode and played with that for a while.
I'm about 2 months into learning this stuff and I'm not putting a huge amount of time into it but making more progress than I have done before.
Because I'm focusing on a small area I'm noticing improvement, that improvement is keeping me motivated to keep going and it seems to be getting easier as I go.
Baby steps and all that.
Accompany yourself. Just a single note drone is all you need. It can be as much in your head as an actual sound. Find other notes that sound nice with it. Then push the envelope. What if you throw in a flat 5? How about playing both minor thirds over it at the same time? Experiment with runs, playing for example, the major third on the way up and the minor third on the way down. Do all this with single note backing because they you are free to play anything - any scale, any tonality. Before too long you find yourself doing interesting new stuff.
Nix the backing track.
The advice doesn't change though- this is why I advocate for getting on it because the same concerns and issues are always there waiting for you to work on. People either do it or they don't.
Don't rush it- it does take a while to get but the great thing is when you get little wins, which spurs you on.
A positive mental attitude really helps, although I didn't have that for the first decade, I used the stick rather than the carrot.
So I didn't have as much fun as other people but I still got there.
One thing in that thread I didn't say is I would get the major scale and modes sorted well before melodic/harmonic minor modes. The best advice I can give anyone is 'don't major in minor things'. Put your attention to things that will really progress your playing.
Harmonising the major scale, focussing on playing chord progressions with arpeggios so that you can do with without thinking 'where does my finger go next' is still quite a lot of work and it will transform your playing much more than more esoteric but 'cool' sounding stuff.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
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It will be so much harder doing it yourself/youtube videos.
At least for a year- then you can deploy the method once you know what it is.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
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Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
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I sometimes get bored of the pentatonic format, but then find new players, like Kirk Fletcher, and realise I'm no where near ready to leave it yet - Saying that I only use the pentatonic as a basic sketch pad, as I add 9th maj 3rd, flat 5th, 6th etc as required to work with the pentatonic notes
The issue I have is trying to play a melodic solo - Maybe the best way of describing this is the Brick in the wall solo - Most of us can sing it front to back - Jam over this chord sequence - But now pretend you are Dave Gilmour and recording this for the first time - Don't copy the original - But try and play a melodic solo that will have the same character ie instantly memorable - And I can't even come close - I can doodle time after time - But can't play/write such a melodic solo - Ditto All Right now etc etc