Improvasation Lesson - Pentatonic Minor

I played a solo with 1 and then 2 notes. In my head, I actually played more notes, but this made it easy to concentrate just on the rhythm and dynamics.
Phil graduated me to the full scale.

I played a solo using the pentatonic minor over 12 scales blues A progression.
[Phil] I wasn't playing along with the progression. I played a C or E when the progression went to D. While it's in the scale, C and E are not good notes when the chord changes to a D. Usually, the chord tones(I-tonic, III-mediant, V-dominant) are good choices. Being the blues however, which mediant to use is slightly complex and anti-classicial. I should play the mediant that is not in the chord. This means to use a minor 3rd over a major chord or a major 3rd over a minor chord. Otherwise, it won't sound blue. If a 7th chord is being played (not sure about Maj7), then the minor 7th is OK, but not quite as stong a lead in as the chord tones. Again, this is only the lead in note for the new chord to help the listener relate the harmony with the progression. After the lead in note, all notes are fair game.
Another of Phil's tricks is to play a half tone(major 7) of the new chord right before the chord change. Then slide or hammer on to the tonic at the chord change. So play a maj 3rd before a IV or a diatone(arg 4th) before a V. Neither note is in the p-minor scale, but they add to the blues feel when used in passing.
A common used of the minor 3rd over a major progression is to bend or slide to a maj 3rd right away. The opposite isn't true, or at least Phil didn't think it sounded good when he demostrated it.
Phil also used a double stop with a submediant as a lead in, but I forgot it. Mabye a question for next week.
Phil mentioned a few things about pentatonic major, but the minor is easier to use, so I forgot what he said about the major. I'll get back to that at a later time.

Phil uses 3 pentatonic shapes as opposed to 5(CAGED). The E shaped is the main pattern. Then these's the G shaped above and D shaped*(Pentantonic major) below. To cover the rest of the fret board, he uses a modified E shaped starting on the 5th string. Since I'm learning this stuff, I might as well learn the CAGED system since there's so much practical stuff out there for it, especially beyond the pentatonic scales.

Practice plan this week
[Phil] Improv over 12 bars of A. (I figure this will last 10 minutes)
[Me] Improv over normal 12 bar progression and concentrated on hitting the tonic and dominant on chord changes. Maybe try the minor 3 or half tone slide.
[Scales] Play the E, G, and D positions and concentrate on the tonic, sub-dominant and dominant notes of each pattern. Uses there along with the 12 bar progression.
[Ear Training] The best way to commit this to long term meomory is to sing it. I'll learn the 4th and 5th this week and verify correctness with a tuner. I find that I can already transcribe some stuff without thinking about it, but this should help a lot.

*D shaped pentantonic major - The are different fingerings for this. When moving from the G to B string, one common option is to move the hand down 1 fret. This makes bends easier. Got this from the House of Blues - Blues Guitar lesson 1 DVD.

Lesson 3

I played "Bad Moon Raising" for Phil. Turns out that I'm not playing a shuffle, more of a dotted eighth and sixteenth instead of a triplet feel. This is the timing used by SRV for "The Drop", as opposed to a true shuffle used in "Pride and Joy." He also mentions that "Texas Flood", another SRV song I mess aound with, has a Swing feel, which has the shuffle timing, but with less emphases on the back beat.

I'll play some 12 bar blues this week and try to get that shuffle feel. I been humming it since the lesson, and I got it down pretty well below 100bps. I'll try to speed it up as the week goes along and see how it feels. The important word here is feel. There's no counting allow, just got to go slow and memorize the feel.

I notice that my fingers need streching too. We played the Chuck Berry shuffle which requires a small strech for the entire 12 bars, and my hand was staring to cramp up.

We also worked on soloing. Phil's main suggestion was to concentrate more of rhythm than melody, cause that'll keep the audience more interested. I'm record and solo over my own progressions with 1, 2, and 3 notes. This is great, since I don't need to memorize any scales. I already know a few scales(modes), but only feel comfortable with the pentatonic minor in 2 pseudo-positions. Pseudo, cause it's not even across all 6 strings. One position has 7 notes and the other has 5 notes, but it's all one really needs for the blues.

Skipped a lesson

I skip a lesson because 4/5 of the family was sick for about a week. I didn't learn much new material either. I learned Help from the Beatles. It's a quick one at 185. I can play it fast, but I know some of the rhythm timing would be slightly off. I'll keep pounding away at the songs I already know until I have them at a satisfactory level.

These are the things I try to do when I practice.
1. Close my eyes. My ears will tell me if I hit a bad note.
2. Hum along with what I'm playing. This helps my playing in so many ways.

Problem area to work out
Em barred chords gaves a slight buzz on G-string during rapid chord changes such as Help.

2nd paid lesson

I'm pretty much driving the lessons right now. I learned "Black Moon Raising" last week minus the solo, which I'll do this week. I still have problems getting it at full 140bps, but Phil suggested that playing the exact strum pattern for the song is not neccessary unless you're working for Chuck Berry. Actually, learning this song is probably only 2 or 3 practice sessions, but I didn't get around to practicing as much since I wanted to fix the PRS last week. To keep Phil motivated, I paid him when the lesson started.

I made a list of question for Phil.

1. Switch between open to bar chords
- keeping elbow tuck in
- play open chord with thrumb opposit middle finger
- rotate hand clockwise
PHIL - This is correct.

2. How would you approach learning a song(general)?
PHIL - 1. write out different sections and how many times to play them
2. figure out the basic chord progression, then add strum pattern
Author's Note - I lay out the songs mental, but I need to create a cheat book for myself that I used to remember songs with. Sort of a customized fake book.

3. What's the approach to creating a solo for "Bad Moon"?
PHIL - It's delta blues style. Use parts of chords from main progression with basic blues fill. There's a m3(not in scale) to M3 slide between bars that's typical blues.

4. Rapid chord switching - I Fought the Law - G,F,Em
- my slow technique is to push bottom of hand out while thumb is pivot.
- using right elbow?
PHIL - Just use the fingers to press down is quickest. Bar the Em should be quicker, cause you don't move the wrist.

5. String bending technique - Texas Flood's 3 bend combo
PHIL - Lay index finger over the top strings to mute them. This allows you to rake the top strings going into the bend which Stevie does. Stevie may use the index and ringer finger, but that's not possible for most people on heavy guage strings.
Author's Note - I notice that placing the index finger over the strings help me bend with more precision too. Not sure why this is, but this was on my PRS with 9 guage. I'll try this technique on the 11 guage tonight.

6. Vibrato technique
PHIL - Pivot where hand contacts bottom of fret board. On classical and non-fretted strings instruments, you can slide up and down the string a bit. On classical guitar, you can also use pressure vibrato.

7. With classical hand position on D, it's hard for the pinky to reach Maj6.
PHIL - Fogerty plays the D with partial bar on 2nd fret(strings 1, 2, and 3). So the ring finger can easy reach the b note on 4th fret.
ME - Phil, you gota tell me these things when you see it.

8. I'm not keeping proper timing. How do I develope it?
PHIL - Just strum simple patterns with 1 chord or 2 chords with a metronome. The more you use a metronome, the less you need it.
Author's Note - I'm able to play "Bad Moon" with my eyes closed, and I feel like my timing is better since I can concentrate better.

9. My hands get tired when playing barred chords. For slower sections, I try different things like pushing out my wrist and pushing the guitar body in with my right elbow.
PHIL - My hands get tired too.
Author's Note - I just need to build more hand strength and play less bar chords.

Songs I plan to learn this week.
1. Solo for "Black Moon Raising" Delta Blues Style.

2. Beatles' version of Twist and Shout. I actually learn guitar 1's parts last night in like 15 minutes, but I need much more practice.

3. Skynyrd's "What's you Name"
I may swap this song with Hey Joe, since I can't sing this to my daughters. But I can sing Hey Joe for my wife.

4. Stevie's "Texas Flood" - I been putting off this song cause I wanted rhythm practice, but I'll learn a little bit more each week.

1st pay lesson

I brought in CCR's "Bad Moon Raising". I had a bit of a problem with some sycopated shuffle patterns at the end of the verse. Provided, I haven't practiced it much and it usually takes me a while to learn a new rhythm pattern. I was hoping for some quick fix, but we ended clapping some beats and he gave some some exercises, which I didn't do.

I asked some questions about song structure, but he didn't have much insight. Just offer some suggestions of songs that had similar progressions. I'll stay away from this area for now. Song writing is better learned from a book and actually writing a song. I can use him for feedback later when I write something.

I asked him about why my pick is slipping. He suggested I try different picks. I already ordered couple sets from MF which had good user rating the night before. It should arrive tomorrow. I plan to get some rubber paint and coat my existing picks. Maybe that's a cheaper way to go.

The best thing I got from this lessons is to "growl" the guitar lines. He didn't really teach it, but that's what he was doing. I notice that the bass guy on a live Monk album sang his lines loud enough to be heard on the recording. Anyways, I'm singing all my lines out loud for everything I play now, rhythm and solos. It works great. I got through the intro for Texas flood on the 1st try with way better results. My fingers just seem to know where to go better than when I merely think about what the sound should be. I also mastered the rhythm section for "Black Moon Raising" verse parts on the way home.

So the conclusion was, I didn't get much out of what he taught, but I got a lot from seeing how he approached the song.

I need to come up with better questions for the next lesson. I need to figure out ways to probe his mind for stuff he does "naturally", but doesn't teach. I'll structure my questions as "how to you approach a piece like this...". I'll try asking him some questions about different styles too and see if you gaves useful insight.