A Modern Method for Guitar Vol 1 - Lesson 13 - Pages 112 to 124

**fep** · 08-24-2012, 10:06 AM

Congratulations, a great accomplishment.

**ten left thumbs** · 08-24-2012, 11:06 AM

Thanks, I can't quite believe it. It has been about a solid year, as I did start on the book around this time last year.

Time to put it aside I think and do some real music.

**Kojo27** · 09-22-2012, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by ten left thumbs

Now, if I can see shapes on the piano, why can't I see them on a guitar?

Just to add to what's been said already, I think most guitar players (true for me) learned "their scales" by pattern - and not by note names. We sat on the bed in our rooms and pored over some book with the guitar grid fretboard thing, with DOTS. We stared at that as we followed the damn dots, over and over, dots, dots, dots -- and doing this burns that image into the mind's eye.

I find, even now, when I'm playing a scale, I'll notice a flicker of memory -- of that page with dots, and the dots on the grid -- flash by.

So maybe stare at the dots, Laura - as your fingers run through the pattern, follow the dots with your eyes. If it seems strange - following dots, keeping up with which string is which, etc. - just know that it won't take very long at all to know it like the back of your hand. There's much to be said for diagrams and tab, IMO. Ted Greene said that patterns are "the key to the instrument." He was right, unless you're Martin Taylor or Bob Conti.

So print off some scale diagrams and stare at them while you play them. Do this for weeks. Hehe.

kj

**Langs** · 05-15-2015, 06:25 AM

Only the first exercise of p112 so far, but couldn't help already putting my mark on the thread of the Final Lesson

Super stoked to be making it to the finish....

p112 - B-flat Major - Fingering Type4

**Langs** · 06-23-2015, 03:14 PM

Alright so here is the rest. Took a little more than a month. Pretty tough stuff...

p113 - Db Major - Fingering Type 1 - 70 Bpm

Looks like my SoundCloud account ran out of minutes...

p113 Ab Major

p114 - Third Position Review

p116 - Chord Forms

p117 - Major Scales in First Position

p118 - First Position Review

**Langs** · 06-23-2015, 04:32 PM

Continuing to publish my very last recordings for this Study Group. It's been truly amazing and really want to continue on this track. Hopefully I get to finish VolumeII quicker (as in quicker than 2yrs!!)

p119 - 120 Major Scales in Fourth Position

p121 - Chord Forms

p122-123 Fourth Position Review and Chord forms - Grand Finale

**lickerz101** · 12-26-2015, 03:10 AM

Hi everyone. I just finished working with vol.1 and planning to continue to work on vol.2. Do I need to master the exercises in the first volume(esp. Chord etudes) before moving on to the next volume?

**nickr** · 10-07-2017, 07:07 PM

I've been following these threads years after they happened, while I've worked through the book on my own, and they've been incredibly valuable and motivating. I just 'finished' the book, and will shortly move onto volume 2 (I'm going to miss having these threads and a video tutor!). I can't play everything in volume 1 flawlessly yet, but I can play it nonetheless. Experience tells me that by the time I'm halfway through volume 2, the trickier parts of volume 1 will seem a lot easier.

It feels so strange to finish the book when I can also still remember how daunting and awkward it felt playing that first exercise on page 4, not knowing how to read for guitar or what any of the notes on the neck were. Towards the end I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I adapted to third and fourth positions — and that it was a much quicker adaptation than learning second position. Also, introducing second position and then, two pages later, Chord Etude 1 (arguably the hardest piece in the book) was pretty rough. I felt like I was stuck on pages 60-62 for months. But I eventually got them under my fingers, and I learned a valuable lesson about persistence.

Anyway, I have one question that neither the book nor the DVD seem to explain: on page 108, what is the meaning of "G7(13)" on the first line? Should I play a G7 or a G13, or something else? Similarly, what does "D9(13)" on page 122 mean? I went back through the book and couldn't see that notation introduced anywhere. TIA.

**smokinguit** · 10-07-2017, 08:31 PM

Nickr, you've done a amazing job and now is a good idea to move on to Book 2, but never forget what Leavitt kept repeating throughout book 1: Review, review, review. Flawless playing will naturally develop with constant review. I finished all 3 books and I still crack open book 1 for fun. I've worked through other method books, such as Melbay, but this one is my favorite.

**smokinguit** · 10-07-2017, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by nickr

Anyway, I have one question that neither the book nor the DVD seem to explain: on page 108, what is the meaning of "G7(13)" on the first line? Should I play a G7 or a G13, or something else? Similarly, what does "D9(13)" on page 122 mean? I went back through the book and couldn't see that notation introduced anywhere. TIA.

G7 (13) simply means you are playing the basic G7 chord (G-B-D-F) plus adding the "13" interval (E) which is an octave plus a major 6 away from the root on the bottom. It doesn't matter whether you play G7 or G13 here because the dominant function doesn't change. It just sound more interesting to add extended notes (notes that are beyond an octave from the root) to the basic seventh chord.

And as for the D9(13), you can simply call that a D13 because a dominant 13 chord can have a 9th in it without the need to specify that it is there.

**nickr** · 10-08-2017, 07:17 AM

Thanks smokinguit, for your helpful answers. The chord explanation makes sense.

I will be sure to review the book regularly. I learned the value of this after having terrible trouble with page 19. It was only once I'd progressed to somewhere in the second half of the book that I could go back to page 19 and play it flawlessly every time.

**ronjazz** · 10-08-2017, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by lickerz101

Hi everyone. I just finished working with vol.1 and planning to continue to work on vol.2. Do I need to master the exercises in the first volume(esp. Chord etudes) before moving on to the next volume?

I studied with Bill Leavitt, and he said that mastery of previous exercises is not necessary for moving on, but recommended some sort of regular review program so that you can hear and experience your improvement. You'll end up being very surprised at how easy it is to play what not so long ago was nearly impossible. Press on, but open up vol. 1 every once in a while and do a few pages.

**ronjazz** · 10-08-2017, 07:57 PM

As far as the mystery chords: G7(13), check to see if Leavitt wrote the 13th as a melody note, that was one of the ways of pointing out harmonic function and hearing it in context. extensions should be used melodically, so a 13th should perhaps become an augments and then just a 7th or perhaps a b5. That way you get a nice chromatic line, but it needs to be against a long note to be effective. Accompanying well is a big study, and I recommend the great arrangers like Nelson Riddle and Don Costa (who was a good guitarist, and you can hear that in his writing).