Vintage Club #25 with Richard | Open Q&A

[Richard_close2u]

Chapters now added to the recording for easy navigation to a specific question.

Video Chapters
00:00:00 Opening
00:02:00 Introduction
00:08:45 Prize Draw
00:11:00 Q&A Start
00:12:08 @ontime Jason - borrowed chords in songwriting
00:23:28 @Carreta Michal - steps to achieve musical goals
00:30:42 @Beatup6String Ashu - the fingerstyle percussive hit
00:35:20 @magnanelli Alfio - is this music 6/8 or 3/4?
00:44:15 @edwardc Edward - upstrums in 6/8?
00:50:00 @Lisa_S Lisa - composing with multiple guitar parts
00:52:57 @Willsie John - help understand the theory behind a Beatles riff
01:03:09 @Eccleshall Ruaridh - advice for playing in front of family / friends / at a party etc.
01:06:56 @metramaks Artem - how to keep time when playing lead solos
01:14:30 @linrosam Lin - exercises for arthritic fingers
01:15:42 @Stuartw Stuart - benefits of recording yourself
01:18:05 @AJSki2fly Adrian - help building a practice routine
01:20:02 @eduard09 Dick - alternatives to open C major chord
01:24:20 @JACKMANIAN Ian - songwriting advice for different styles (chords & rhythm)

[chris_m]

That’s exactly what I wanted. Thank you.

[DeltaTyne]

Again a big thank you to all Justin guitar teachers for giving there time up and I think Richard done extremly well on his live Q and A session, I for one would enjoy more like them and thanks again for going the 30 minutes over Richard cheers HEC

[AJSki2fly]

Hi Richard,
Thanks for Vintage Club #25, it was very interesting, and varied.

I thought some might find my current practice plan helpful as a guide to what you can do with JustinGuitars Practice Assistant. Its about 2 hours, if I do each once, but in reality it is more like +3 hours due to mistakes and going back over stuff, particularly when trying to get songs right, and rhythms.

I was a bit lax and not sticking to it any daily routine, and as a result was going from one thing to another, and not achieving much, so recently I created this and am following each day. the practice routine will evolve and change as hopefully I improve.

Cheers

Adrian

[Ontime]

I thought it was a cool idea. So happy the winner was present and had a video question. It was perfect

[judi]

Agree with others: this was a great session! I enjoyed the variety of questions, and it was fun to see the input (both recorded and written) from some familiar names, and some new ones. If it’s not more work for you than the regular clubs offered, could this format be offered every 4-6 months?

[linrosam]

Wow @Richard_close2u thank you. That’s a lot of work!!

[linrosam]

…and @Richard_close2u welcome to the 60’s they were the best times !!

[Richard_close2u]

@domi7

That was a really nice format, Richard!
I would definitely like to see something like this again!

Thanks Domi.
I wanted to do everybody justice so put in extra effort and overtime in the live session to complete all questions.

@jvlynch

we could use more of that type of format

Thanks Jim. It may be the start of something …

@Lisa_S

shall I say Rikipedia

Haha. Thanks for noticing that little ‘joke’ Lisa. My stepdaughter calls me that sometimes and it seemed appropriate.

@Lisa_S

+1 for repeating this format

Thanks for the feedback.

@Ontime

I am looking forward to really hitting Richards essay on the circle of 5ths

I did a spin off topic that took on its own life on borrowed chords too.

@CD02

Thanks for all the efforts you put into these

Thanks Craig - much appreciated.

@philsmith

Great format Richard, I like getting the audience questions answered

Thanks Phil.

@Gunhild

Many thanks to everyone who contributed

Here here. Without people willing to share their questions it would not have been what it was. Thanks everyone.

@DeltaTyne

I for one would enjoy more like them

Another thumbs up, thanks HEC.

@AJSki2fly

I thought some might find my current practice plan helpful

What a great share - thanks Adrian.

@Ontime

So happy the winner was present and had a video question

Yeah - that made it a little bit special.

@judi

If it’s not more work for you than the regular clubs offered, could this format be offered every 4-6 months?

The positive response is certainly pushing that way. It was a lot of work, many hours of preparation … but nothing comes from nothing!

@linrosam

welcome to the 60’s

60 feels alright so far.

[TheMadman_tobyjenner]

Early days bro !

[Ontime]

Love this. Great job making the practice routine yours. There are lots of cool things I have learned to do with it over the last years and a half. Dont be afraid to make multiple routines either. I have many working routines, like one that is just for my regular warm up. I do that and then swap it out for whatever practice I need to do that day. Another for theory work, and another for songs.

Great work, the Practice assistant is an awesome tool that justin provides us. I love seeing how other student artists are using theirs.

Edit to show show my practice assistant main page

@Richard_close2u

I did a spin off topic that took on its own life on borrowed chords too

This was a really cool and informative segment. Thank you so much for taking that time for the question I had.

[chris_m]

I’ve been using the songbook page more so than the practice assistant. Nothing wrong with the practice assistant of course, whatever works for each individual is absolutely what you should go with.

So, my practice routine is to play each song in the campfire and developer categories. And then work on any difficult bits, usually it will be a chord change or a riff.

The objective is to get 10 songs into the campfire category. When I can play 10 songs then the plan is to sign up for BLIM, hoping I can do that in time for the next intake in 6 months.

Note on Sultans Of Swing, I could almost play some parts of that song 10 years ago but I gave up guitar for a few years and it’s regressed to the I need to relearn it category.

[AJSki2fly]

There are many ways to use the JustinGuitars site to learn/practice, songs included.

The last few months I hit a brick wall feeling that I was not moving forward. I had been practicing songs using Justin app and Gibson app on a daily basis, 2-3 hours a day, doing a bit around scales and some blues stuff. And there you have it I was going round and round the same thing making small improvements but not really learning guitar or variety on it.

So my take is learning songs to play is great if that is what you want to do but that in itself can be limiting in several areas. It means you learn what you learn in songs, it may restrict technique and versatility, and a guitar student will not necessarily understand the guitar as a musical instrument or learn how to improvise and be creative.

I am not sure I have a complete answer to this, often called the intermediate wall, and as I understand it the point where a lot stop playing. However I think it’s the point in a learning journey where a quite structured approach is required that results in a very good grasp of the guitar that brings together chords, scales(major, minor, pentatonic, blues, a few others), keys, technique(strumming, finger style, rhythms, articulation, soloing), a basic understanding of music theory.

I now think that a structured approach that addresses all the above and brings them together is probably what I need to adopt. So for example in the past i looked at the CAGED system briefly but never fully understood it, but over the past few weeks I revisited it and am working through exercises to embed it. The great thing I find with CAGED is it addresses several areas simultaneously, the guitar neck, chords, and there relationships and where they can played on the neck, scales and how chords are built from them, chord tones and how they relate to Root notes and each other, and ear training. The exercises I am using at each stage put it into practice chords, chord tones, and build through scales by playing musical compositions that grow in complexity gradually, they also address technique and soloing as you progress. It is early days yet for me with it, but I think my understanding and learning curve is now starting to improve.

[chris_m]

The Holistic Practice Routine | JustinGuitar.com This is Justin’s take on the topic. I actually found it too difficult to learn so many different areas at once. Which is why I’m mostly focused on learning songs. I should also mention I’ve bought the practical music theory course, I am spending some of my practice time memorising notes on the fretboard.

It would also depend on what level you are at. I’m not much better than a beginner. I can literally only play one song from start to finish. But really the number 1 priority for me is just to play something each day. If I get any progress by fair means or foul that’s a good result.

[AJSki2fly]

Yes Chris, Justin covers it off, much as I have said. Don’t get me wrong there is great value in learning to play songs you like and are familiar with, it gets you started, you learn some chords and some rhythm tempo stuff and possibly a few licks/solos on the way.

But putting it all together and joining the musical dots so to speak requires more. This can be very daunting and somewhat confusing. In my humble opinion there is often a tendency to look at each aspect separately, without putting into context or practical use. So for example, practicing arpeggios, you could have a load of them nailed for many chords but if you had not been shown how to use them in context in composition what’s the point. Similarly if you learn to play all the chords that fit the C major scale, but don’t understand how they are made or their relationship to each other then using them apart from in songs in the key of C becomes tricky.

What I was trying to get across is from what I have tried the CAGED system approach brings several key areas together and builds these and understanding at the same time, so musical knowledge, skills and how to apply it on the guitar grows. I don’t CAGED is a magical panacea but rather a useful approach and tool to gain understanding easier and possibly quicker. I hope that makes sense.