Death in the family. Fourth this year. Emotionally I’m bled out.
Gotta be awhile before I care about much of anything. Guitar included.
Sorry to hear that, Daniel, wish you strength and resilience.
And I wish you strength,
Greetings Rogier
Sorry to read about your loss, wish you strenght, all the best,
Andrea
Haven’t done any real training for close to a month now. Now trying to return back to the land of the living.
“Give to Cesear what is Cesear’s”; Give to the Death what is dead.
So we move on…
I’m working on PMT Grade 4.1, Module “Major Triad Grips (Strings 1/2/3)”.
Granted Justin has provided tabs for the “Major Triad Grips Memory Exercises,” but I need to put this into a form that - I - can memorize. At 71+ I suck at rote (fretboard) memorization, but I still have a pretty good grip on “pattern recognition.” And I milk that for everything that it is worth. TABS are too busy to memorize although they are a form of “pattern.”
So - we come to this attachment.
Three forms of playing a Major Chord on Strings 1-2-3, in this case the “E-Chord.”
For any particular triad we’ll need the chord form (grip, fingering, or whatever ya want to call it).
So the E-Major triad as the base chord form of E G# B.
From here - IF I had the fretboard memorize, I could figure out the E-Major triad chord shape. But? I don’t.
So instead I memorize the patterns based on the root note of the pattern and which string it falls on.
Then? I need to memorize the three patterns as they pertain to the entire fretboard. The patterns repeat within a 10 fret increment. So I’ll be able to create two sets of these patterns within a 22 to 24 fret range.
So the trick is to see the 10 fret range where these patterns repeat. Here’s the key: Look for the base chord form that runs up the first string (from frets 0 to 22/24), and in this case the base chord form from the E Major triad is “E G# B.”
Then memorize the visual form for the root note in each form. Then where the 3rd and 5ths notes are in the pattern.
Now - shift the pattern to the F-Chord which has a base chord form of “F A C.” Then understand that for each chord (triad) form, the three patterns are now comprised of the “F A C” notes.
So you don’t need the fretboard memorized. You need the patterns memorized as well as the Root, 3rd, and 5th for each pattern. Then you’ll know the note, which in turn will - with practice - allow you to memorize the fretboard in a way that used pattern recognition as opposed to rote memorization.
In order to leverage this pattern recognition, you’ll need to have the Major triads memorized. Later you’ll need to apply the Minor, Augmented, and Diminished rules to manipulate those patterns ‘on the fly.’
Back to it. When I left in December I thought I was done (context here: Attempting to return to the fretboard). So I literally deleted all of my web browser links. Well, I was definitely stressed. So be it.
So I’ve begun back with Riders On The Storm as its my ring-tone on for my alarm notification on my smart-phone. I hear it daily and often will let it run just because I like the melody of the song. Anywho, was listening to it this evening and decided to learn it. Nice way to return to practice.
Going through Justin’s tutorial and in a typical “me” sorta way, started looking at different places on the fretboard to play the chords. Like the Em to D is a jump. So I went to look up my Chord Finder and… (what chord finder - you nuked it, remember). I can figure it out in my head but the chord finder is a good check.
Luckily I have my desktop computer and a laptop. Checked the laptop and it still has all the links (Phew).
Anyway. Back to practice, or actually wrapping up. My finger-tips hurt. That’s a good sign. Haven’t lost as much as I expected in the way of finger dexterity. But no callouses. WIP.
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God, what I freaking year. Five deaths in my immediate family in one year, the last one at the end of March watching someone die from cancer. The first in that series was April 3 2023 and another April 7 2023, then May 16 2023.
Trying to pick this up again but I don’t know. I was making such good progress before the wind got kicked out of my sails on Nov 12th '2023 then again on March 29th of this year. I don’t even know where to start really my life has been on hold for the better part of a year. So much of what I learned is forgotten and it just makes me almost despair. How the heck to relearn this again? Theory and back to attempting to do some practice? So much of what I had learned is just gone. I feel - empty. And the emptiness sucks the motivation into a black pit. I don’t know… We’ll see. We’ll see.
I guess I’ll just attempt to have no preconceptions and just see what what happens. Yeah.
Sorry to hear about that, life can be so tough. I guess just start slowly with the basics and you’ll blow the cobwebs off slowly but surely.
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Small hands review. Start at 8:50
Sorry to hear about your crappy year, hopefully things improve for you from here on out. For the guitar stuff, you’ll be surprised how much you’ve retained and it won’t take nearly as long to refresh this time around. As David says, it’s just cobwebs, the knowledge and skill is in there somewhere.
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Starting to try to get back in the groove by starting back with the first lessons. What I came away with was that it felt - static. And forced.
So I just began to play chords I knew, easily, not force and attempted to make a melody out of them. Then I began nailing the chords without force and surprisingly, even with my stubby hands, I was muting the G-string for chords that required the G to be muted. Not forced, just easy playing. So this seems to be the way to ease back onto the music highway after this long hiatus. Fingers are a little sore in a good way. Think I’ll print out a circle of fifths tomorrow and build some progressions on the fly to get my fingers used to playing a range of open chords again although the bar-chords I was doing weren’t that bad. I need to get the 6-5-1 frets memorized again to hit bar-chords on the fly as well.
Well - at least I know what I’m gonna do this week. That’s a good start.
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Chord finders (considering I’ve forgotten a lot) and for my own reference. Glad I made a lot of notes here as I’m referring back to them now after this 11 month sabbatical.
Chord finder web sites:
This one may be easier to navigate. It has a simple interface and provides different chord voicing 
I think that’s the correct term.
I used this one before. The interface is a little busier but still useful.
Theory has just leaked out of my brain and onto the floor and into the drain.
I really don’t want to go back and re-memorize what I previously had memorized…but?
There is no other way to do it. But still - I wish there was a way to simple find an overview or summary of theory as opposed to having to go and watch each video to figure out what I remember and what I’ve forgotten.
Linear learning ain’t gonna cut it. So I’m playing songs.
Current practice:
Tears in Heaven (creating a chord-only version) - Clapton
Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears for Fears
Riders on the Storm - Doors
and
I may take on, Twist & Shout - Beatles, just because it’s rattling around in my head and it should be a lot easier than the other three.
Working on remembering bar chords by sight based on the root notes (still have the root notes on the 6th and 5th strings in memory) and creating alternate voicings, which gives me practice of both open and the chord bar-chord voicings for open chords.
Now - Theory.
Back to PMT Grade 1. But I’ve downloaded the PMT Grade 1 Workbook and I’ll scan it, note what I still remember and what I’ve forgotten, refer back to my notes on my computer (I’ve got a bunch of notes and spreadsheets which I just need to put back into context), and then check out the videos of forgotten stuff if I can’t suss it out from the PMT Workbook and computer notes.
So good! I’ve got a plan which in turn keeps me focused.
Well good. I blasted though PMT Grade 1 & 2 last night. I pretty much just scanned the PDF and took the quizes. I remember more than I remember forgetting (did that make sense) . Now on PMT 3 and after looking at the PDF I’ll need to slow down here. I was up to 75% though PMT Grade 4 when I took the sabbatical so I should be able to catch up to that point this week. S’all good man.
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Hey Dan, you’ll find that any ear training you do tends to stick longer than any other kind of memorization work you’ll attemtpt. . .we are as a species, “wired for sound” . . .it’ll ALL come back quicker than you’d imagine. . .keep at it!! 
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Ok - I just had an epiphany. About 40 years ago I was interested in playing bass. I was talked out of it by a bass player who said I’d have issues due to my small hand size. Me and Angus Young. So I’m always looking for ways to work around short fingers and limited reach.
Then I stumbled across Ellen Plays Bass on Youtube. Here’s this kid who at 8 years (and who had started playing bass in 2020 I believe) who was posting Youtube videos of her playing her “Favorite Bass Riffs.” I was like - “Hand size doesn’t have anything to do with it.”
I bought an inexpensive bass 7 weeks ago. Practicing bass is just so different than my experience with guitar. I have always felt like I’m pushing against a rather immovable wall with guitar - a lot of work and not many achievements.
Bass is just - Different. I get lost in playing. Time just rolls by. I look up and I’m like - “Whoa, where did the hour go,” or “My fingers hurt, how long have I been playing.”
When I bought the bass I didn’t really know anything about bass guitar. The one I bought was a regular 34+ inch scale length bass. I didn’t know they came in different lengths. I’ve been learning lots over the last 7 weeks. Here in Thailand you can just add 25% in tariffs to any guitar, and being on a fixed income I economized and purchased a Ibanez Talsman TMB30 bass with a 30 inch scale length.
I modified the 34 inch bass I’ve been playing by putting a capo on the second fret and down-tuning it to standard EADG tuning. Viola - a 30 inch scale bass! And I’ve been having fun with it. So my Ibanez short scale bass should be arriving today.
I believe I have found my muse. Am I giving up on guitar? Nope. It’s just going to play second fiddle…errr…second guitar to the bass. Much of what I’ve learned here can be applied to bass in the way of theory, scales, ear training, etc, just with two less strings. So I’ve kicked myself out of my rut. Different instrument, just more fun to play imho.
So, “Up Up and Away!”
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