THE Guitar Principles Path: Level One Chords and Rhythm by Jamie Andreas |
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Question: 1: Question 2: Question: 3: If your answers to Questions 2 & 3 are "YES!"..... ....then, my answer to Question 1 is...
See if you understand the rhythm What are people using "THE PATH" "Hey Jamey, As you know, I started guitar lessons 2 years ago at the age of 44 after having never played an instrument in my life. I floundered around during the first year with several different teachers where I didn't really learn anything of lasting value except a cursory ability to read music.
PREFACE "The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar" was written in response to the all too obvious lack of a comprehensive approach to learning the guitar that really achieves its intended result: the creation of a real guitar player. It is not obvious if one looks at the millions of guitar methods out there, but it becomes obvious as soon as one looks at the millions of people who own these books, and still cannot make any progress on the guitar! This was of course my belief when I wrote "The Principles", and it was the undeniable conclusion of thirty years of teaching the guitar, all styles, to all types of students. It was clear that only the talented survived. The vast majority who try do not learn to play, and most that do, even the talented, do so with often severe handicaps to future growth, especially growth into the highest levels of playing ability. After thousands of book sales, and thousands of testimonials, it is clear that my belief was well founded. However, it is very important to understand why the existing material, (all the wonderful instructional material out there), does not end up at its intended destination: actual playing ability in the guitar students' fingers. It is because the musical material, that students are given, and the approach to learning it, is incomplete, right from the beginning. The truly important dynamics of the "body learning process" we call "playing the guitar" are not taught, and so practice is often more harmful than helpful. It must be seen that the mechanical operations of the body necessary to playing the guitar are very complex, and all parts of the complex system must be included in a holistic way, right from the beginning of training. A student simply cannot be allowed to develop the fingers while at the same time holding their upper extremity muscles (in the shoulder, back and chest) tense. And they always do! Method books usually make the major mistake of training guitarists from a musical standpoint, instead of the more primary physical standpoint. There is no getting around the fact that playing the guitar is first and foremost a physical activity. If there are problems in that area, there are going to be problems in the musical area, if the musical area has even been able to develop. It makes no sense if a student can read all the notes in the first position, but is severely locked up with physical tension while doing so. That student is headed for frustration and heartache. "The Principles" have provided the answer to this "tunnel vision" approach to learning to play the guitar. In a similar way, the type of musical material that students are given as they go through development as guitarists, is usually dangerously unsystematic. Chords, for instance, are taught in either a random fashion, as they are called for in the teaching of random songs, or, again, from a musical, rather than physical, consideration. So, the chords in the key of C may be taught first, because C is the "first" key, even though those chords, especially the F chord, is very difficult for a relatively new player, or may be impossible to attempt without creating excessive tension. Or, chords may be learned in whatever order they are needed for the "song of the week" , as we wander from song to song, by ourselves, or in lessons. While this haphazard approach to learning music may be fine for an already developed player, it is deadly to the beginner. At the very least, it slows down progress. At worst, it will prevent learning altogether. No, a systematic, step by step approach is best-an approach that progresses from one technical achievement to another, each one building upon the last- and all of it teaching the fundamental principles of guitar technique along the way. This is the aim of "The GuitarPrinciples Path: Level One" . It will provide that structure so necessary to the beginning student. Excursions into other musical material can be more safely undertaken once the foundation has been established. It has always been my contention that the student should be enabled to create a musical experience for themselves as soon as possible, and that means as soon as the basics of mechanical functioning have been covered, and the building of solid technique is underway. "The Principles" serve the purpose of building that solid technique, "The GuitarPrinciples Path: Level One- Chords & Rhythm" will bring that first musical experience to the student, while at the same time building on, and expanding upon, the technical foundation begun in "The Principles".
"The Path: Level One" is in two parts: Chords and Rhythm. In the section on chords, we begin with the chords in the key of G. They are the easiest to learn, and even they should be learned in an order that is dictated by physical considerations first, then musical ones. There's time enough for playing all the music in the world once we can actually get our fingers to do what we want! But we don't have to wait to play music, as you will see. In the chord section of "The Path: Level One", we learn chords in a way that makes it possible to avoid the biggest pitfall that all "chord learners" fall into, the one that makes them say "I've been playing guitar for six months. I know lots of chords, but I can't switch them smoothly enough to play a song". We begin by learning a chord that anyone can do, and a song that needs only one chord. We then move on to a full G chord, and instead of learning a C or D chord next (as would usually be done), we learn to switch smoothly into an E minor chord, because that is easier to do. We will also use this chord change to learn some very important principles of left hand functioning on the guitar, principles that will be a powerful part of your technique throughout your playing lifetime: left hand movement "with support" and "without support". These concepts are directly related to what is being learned and reinforced in "The Principles" and by practicing the "Foundation Exercises" therein. The other half of "The Path: Level One" is a treatment of the subject of rhythm. Because of the highly inadequate presentation of this vital element of music, this subject is depressingly impenetrable to the vast majority of guitar students, unless they are lucky enough to have an excellent teacher who is going to make sure they have a firm understanding, or they are attending a professional musical education institution. There is no getting around the fact that a firm grasp of the subject of rhythm notation, even in its fundamentals, requires a degree of effort. We must put all the "fun stuff" down once in a while and do some real "head work" here, but it must be done. Even if a guitar player decides not to learn how to read music, they must still understand rhythm, and rhythm notation. So, the course is going to provide all the missing pieces necessary to understanding this subject. Concepts are explained in a most fundamental fashion, and everything that I have found to be missing in existing material, I have provided here. Taken together, the two parts of "The GuitarPrinciples Path: Level One, Chords & Rhythm", will provide the next firm addition to the foundation established in "The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar", one that can be relied upon to allow continuous upward growth in abilities, and understanding as a guitarist, and musician.
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Why Is It Difficult For Beginners To Change Chords Smoothly?
Music exists in two dimensions: sound, and time. Time, being an abstract, presents its own special set of problems for the student. The reason so many people are confused concerning rhythm (just try getting a satisfactory answer to "what does the bottom number of the time signature mean, and why is that important?) is, as usual, the absolutely inadequate teaching methodology presented to the student, which is usually no method at all. Like learning the guitar itself, everything that is important to know, IN THE BEGINNING, is missing. There are those who stick with it and figure it out as they go along, and then there are the majority of guitar students out there.
An absolutely precise conception of rhythm is vital to you as a player. It is intimately linked with your ability to give your muscles the precision instructions they need as they "cut" the notes into the right length required by the rhythm you are playing.
Get On "The Path" Today!
What are people using "THE PATH" saying about it? "The six chapters in the Rhythm section of "The Path" breaks down the elements of rhythm into the atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks Jamie speaks of in another writing.
"Received Jamie's new book yesterday, WOW! I must say she has done it again, explained the unexplainable.
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