The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #51

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    I've recently started in earnest to go through Vol1 as a beginner. I'm enjoying the feeling of accomplishment when I get the hang of the exercises but struggle with the not making music aspect.

    My background is actually not guitar but experimental electronic music but I have recently gravitated towards using a guitar more and more. I've never sight read before and reading the notation whilst playing and not looking at the guitar is the biggest hurdle I have right now, is this something you just end up doing with experience as I like looking at the instrument and feeling involved that way?

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  3. #52

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    Yes, but you should make a concerted effort too, as opposed to just letting it happen over time.

    Try to play simple things with your eyes closed or while looking away. A 3-chord blues, a scale, a simple melody. It shouldn't be too tough to accomplish while playing in a single position. After you get the hang of that, try shifting up or down to the adjacent fingering position.

    However, you should note that many great players still look at their fretting hand most of the time, even while playing music that is memorized or improvised. Accuracy and control...

  4. #53

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rmro
    I've recently started in earnest to go through Vol1 as a beginner. I'm enjoying the feeling of accomplishment when I get the hang of the exercises but struggle with the not making music aspect.

    My background is actually not guitar but experimental electronic music but I have recently gravitated towards using a guitar more and more. I've never sight read before and reading the notation whilst playing and not looking at the guitar is the biggest hurdle I have right now, is this something you just end up doing with experience as I like looking at the instrument and feeling involved that way?
    Rmro, welcome to the gathering of the followers silently plowing through the pages of black dots.

    Being musical is may be the biggest thing here. I distinctly remember frustration when trying to overdub 'sea to sea'. It was truly terrible: in a simple 2 part piece there is nowhere to hide - things like lack of control and bad timing become apparent. It was not the tune being too 'plain' or 'silly', it was me not able to play.

    This an important skill: to take a notated piece of someone else and to turn it into a music. Not looking at the guitar is part of this, of course (one of the goals is to learn reading). And the method will leave you no choice - there is so much material that it is impossible to fully commit it to memory, you'll have to look into the book (but is are we not supposed to connect with music by listening, not by looking?).
    It all makes it quite a struggle in the beginning, but if you are persistent - at some point something clicks and you feel much, much better.

  5. #54

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    How you are feeling is perfectly normal for a beginner. We all come to realise at some point that learning to be a musician takes a lot more dedication and hard work than we ever imagined. Try to keep some sort of record of your progress by recording yourself and dating the recording. As long as when you review the recording you can see a marked improvement then you are moving forward. We are all on the same path some of us further on than others and some of us moving faster than others. All the best.

  6. #55

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    My goal right now is to learn to read better and to know off hand what 3 notes make each standard chord and standard extensions.

    Using this book is helping a lot with that goal and I'm getting to know the fretboard a lot better. For me this book isn't what I'm using every time I pick up the guitar. If I can get an hour a week spread over 3-4 sessions that's good for me. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and it's been a really great resource for my goals.