Comments on: Playing Guitar – What Does It Take

By: Spin

Spin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:26:37 +0000

Hi Lee, your lessons are really helping me out, please keep it up with the great job!

Thanks a bunch!

By: ujjawal

ujjawal — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:18:20 +0000

Hi Lee..

Thanks a lot good man … for writing out the understanding behind the boxed penta pattern.. I think its gonna help me for sure..
Can u suggest something for..phrasing..
I can play over certain progressions etc..but..i just think the level is not that gud..to myself.
Please suggest something..

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:50:09 +0000

Hey Manny, thanks for dropping by!

I’m not the worlds best at playing guitar without looking at the fretboard but I’m okay. Like everything else, it just takes practice. This is something we don’t do very often because we don’t pay much attention to it.

When I practice this I do something along these lines … Pick a few chords, reasonably spread out along the neck, just two or three to start with. Now play them back and forth for five minutes or so, really get a feel for them.

Then stop, close your eyes and without playing, just try to imagine yourself playing what you was just doing. Imagine where they are on the fretboard and then try to play them. Don’t look if you get it wrong, just try again, use your ear to guide you. After a few goes you should find you get it right more and more often.

Repeat the whole process over. You’ll be surprised how well you can teach your brain something without looking, it’s not that hard but you have to allow your brain to get the feel for it while your eyes are closed. That’s why it’s important not to open your eyes when you get it wrong, this way your mind is forced to think more about it under the condition it isn’t used to, i.e., with your eyes closed.

Like everything else, it just takes some practice and I’m glad you brought it up … it’s something I need to do more often!

Lee

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:21:59 +0000

Hi
Just found your site today and read thru some of the lessons etc
What I’ve always been curious being relatively new to guitar learning
is how to learn to play without having to look at the fretboard.
No one seems to have a method for getting there

thanks for sharing so much great info and interesting ways of looking at the guitar

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:24:08 +0000

Hi Jim
I think it really depends on where you are now at and what your goals are, can you give me a bit more info? Style, lead, rhythm, technique, how well do you know the fretboard, etc..

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:51:33 +0000

Lee;

Happy to see the series and your site in general. Wondering if you might recommend some kind of practice schedule for the intermediate guitarist. I see that Donald had suggested something for himself and I’m wondering if that’s the kind of thing you’d recommend for anyone?

Thanks for all your dedication and hard work…

By: Lee

Lee — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:28:28 +0000

Thanks Jeffrey. Everyone's got a different way of thinking. My logic won't work for everyone but hopefully that (long winded) lesson should help others to find their own way. I'm glad you found it useful. The 1-4-5 chord tones is definitely going to help as well. And stuck in a pentatonic box kind of summarises the 'master' lesson. keep practicing this type of stuff, it takes a while, but all of a sudden you go crashing into another level without knowing how you got there. That's when everyting changes. I've been doing this on and off for a long while and I still have a long way to go so don't give up! happy practicing. Lee

By: Jeffrey Livesey

Jeffrey Livesey — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:44:34 +0000

Hi Lee, as far as I am concerned your ‘Mastering the Pentatonics’ is brilliant.I’ve needed something like this that I can follow for years and feel like I am really getting somewhere now.The stage that I am currently at is,I can now play Am pentatonic anywhere on the neck,have played quite fluently along with the jamtracks including the shuffles. Am now going to try scale boxes to accompany a 1-4-5 chord progression.
Thanks again

By: Lee

Lee — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:28:31 +0000

Hi Dave, good attitude, stick with it and you’ll benefit fast from it. Just don’t forget to have fun, if it starts to feel like work then find a way to make it more interesting.

The pentatonic thing is still on the way, I have cut it down a bit and hope to have at least some of it up in the next few days. You can find some speed building exercises here http://www.fretmeup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309 I’ll be adding some more to it today.

By: Donald L. Simpson

Donald L. Simpson — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:59:54 +0000

A couple of days ago I was pondering the question of muscle memory and how to improve speed. I am now a believer in slow practive makes perfect. I am looking for exercise to build speed and would be interested in your pentatonic series. I am trying to put together a practice schedule where on Monday I practice pentatonic scales and warm up exercises, tuesday, warm up exercises and chords, Wednesday warm ups and speed exercises and difficult passages of songs, thursday and fridays what ever I am in the mood to practice. I am going to add a metranome to my practice thats to your articles.