Last updated 10/7/2020. Previously updated 10/21/2009, 7/2007, 5/2006, 7/23/2001, 10/20/2000. Send comments to: kevinf@debone.com
For more audio examples of the results of the following approach, click
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Regardless of what style/genre you are interested in, here's what
I think a good guitar teacher/student would cover:
- General music theory
- Ear training including recognition of intervals and listening
to music performed by the best performers possible as
a reference.
- Exercises including:
- Separation exercises
- Scales, arpeggios, ornamentation (includes harmonics and chords)
- Rhythmic, and related to this is...
- Dynamics (accents, and pianissimo to forte)
- Pitch modulation: Vibrato (horizontal, vertical), bends, slides
- Modulation (other): Key, Tempo, and Dynamics modulations
- Performing:
- Find music you want to play that is
within your ability or a practical near term goal.
- Sight Reading
- Improvisation
- Strategies for improving (teaching oneself):
There are many more aspects, of course, but these are what are
most important fundamentals to me.
Here are some more details from my previous outline:
- General music theory
- Notation: key signatures, time signatures etc. in conjunction with
the following:
- Rhythm: based on 2's 3's and combinations, down beats, up beats accents:
Mastering Odd, Complex Time Signatures And Rhythms, Updated
(Hear examples in "So Much For Justice": http://www.debone.com/subtlehint.html"
- Scales: 48 heptatonic scale structures (See http://www.debone.com/scales.html, including
- Modal:
- Western: major, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, minor, locrian
- World: 48 scales mapped to western chromatic scale, including
Hidustani that's and derivatives for rags, Maqam, etc.
Examples:
- "Hungarian": sometimes called "adorian" is a modified
phrygian: The phrygian scale is allowed the 3rd to be
raised (major) on resolution from a dominant (such as the
2nd chord). The Hungarian scale keeps this major 3rd and
adds the leading tone of a raised 7th (major 7th) as
opposed to the minor 7th of the phrygian.
- "Thats" of North India not covered in modal above: Primarily
Todi & Pervi. Todi "scale" includes minor 2nd & 3rd,
augmented 4th, perfect 5th, minor 6th, major 7th
(Again "So Much For Justice": http://www.debone.com/subtlehint.html")
(Also Todi is equivalent to the scale used in the Egyption
"Gaziara": See www.debone.com/exoticextremes.html for
a sound sample ).
- Modal subsets and derivatives: Pentatonic, blues,jazz,rock
and bluegrass (includes accidentals between whole tone
steps in pentatonic scale).
- Diminished (used a lot over dominant and tritone substitutions
in jazz and some in classical)
- Augmented (whole tone) (mostly jazz and classical)
- Harmony (based on scales learned)
- Chords using each note in scale as root.
Triads and 7th chords first...
- Different voicings and their arpeggios are learned
- Roles of each chord (dominant, sub-dominant, substitution, etc)
and the use of "passing" (dissonant) chords to create
tension to be resolved by other more consonant chords
- Common progressions based on roles of chords: Cadences,
Chaccone, etc.
- Counterpoint
- Multiple tonal centers (Modern classical and jazz):
Building 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th chords by superimposition:
For example, adding a major triad with a minor chord
whose root is the major third of the first gives a
major 7th chord. Melody & counterpoint may progress
in either key as long as it is harmonically consistent .
- Different voicings and their arppeggios are learned
- Perception of sound and harmony vs tessatura.
- "hyperharmony"
- Modulation:
Key (tonal center, primary pitch)
Tempo (rhythm, accelerando, decelerando, etc.)
Dynamics (loudness: piannisimo to forte)
- Melodic and harmonic patterns as trajectory structures
- Ear training including recognition of intervals and listening
to music performed by the best performers possible as
a reference.
Intervals: This is done in parallel to learning scales and
harmony: Time separated intervals (all of scale) are
learned when learning scales. Learning to pick out
notes of chords is learned when studying chords.
The teacher can play intervals or chords and have
the student state the relative intervals by ear.
Listening to best performances: Both live and recorded
performances. Playing along with other good musicians
or recordings is a great way to calibrate rhythm,
tone and playing in general.
Ear training is important for developing musicianship.
Once you can discern pitch interval patterns from melodies,
you can start to appreciate the "Where's Waldo" aspect of
finding the patterns repeated on many levels throughout
fractal music such as with
Pure Fractals 2 and
Pure Fractals
- Exercises including:
- Separation exercises
Examples:
1) On a given string, left hand finger 1,3,2,4,4,2,3,1
2) On alternate strings with progressive string separation
repeat fingerings above
3) Reach exercises
4) Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) exercises
- Scales, arpeggios (pick, hammer-on, pull-off, slide, combinations)
(in conjunction to theory)
- Different voicings and thier arppeggios are learned
- I would include the study of harmonics here
- Along with the study of arpeggios, I would include
double stops and chords
- Rhythmic
- Especially direct changes from one time base to another
- Combinations and permutations of accents various
places in the measure of each time signature.
- Rhythmic articulation
- All combinations of 3's and 2's: 5/8, 7/8, 11/16, 13/8, etc.
(See www.debone.com/exoticextremes.html for sound sample
examples.)
- Pitch modulation: Vibrato (horizontal, vertical), bends, slides,
- Modulation
- Practice the Key, Tempo, and Dynamics modulations
- Melodic and harmonic patterns as trajectory structures
- Performing:
- Encourage students to find music they want to play that is
within their ability or a practical near term goal.
- Sight Reading
- Pre-read:
Scan the music for the most difficult sections
to develop a strategy ahead of time.
- Emphasize rhythm, especially when playing with others:
missing notes is usually better than playing
the right ones at the wrong time or getting
totally lost.
- Learn to recognize rhythmic, chordal and melodic
phrases as one learns words made from letters.
This allows you to concentrate on phrasing more
so that it sounds more musical.
- Improvisation
- Know what you want to say
Speaking through your instrument about
what you think and/or feel at the moment
will reduce the probability of being
redundant or playing with an apparent
lack of focus.
- As in sight reading, being aware of the rhythm,
chord structure and any melodic precedent
and being aware of the effects of phrasing
are fundamental to me.
- Strategies for creativity: analytical and intuitive:
- eastern approach: related to the natya shastra
- western approach: from general problem solving, brainstorming, lateral thinking, etc.
- additional: generative trajectory structures approach
- Strategies for improving (teaching oneself):
- Identify strengths and weaknesses relative to interests in
improvement.
- Devote more time to key weaknesses than strengths.
- Enhance feedback to increase sensitivity to errors and
reinforce successes.
- Learn how to identify Cannonical forms and extrapolate ideas
to economize memory and effort.
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