Where do I start???

[Litterick]

Start with the Autumn Leaves lesson. This might be the beginning of something big, or you might decide straight-ahead jazz guitar is not for you.

[Reg]

I’m 37 - grew up playing guitar and was in a band in High school so I “WAS” a “competent” guitar player. On a high school band level. I haven’t picked up and practiced my guitar in 15 years and I’m getting started again. I can strum Chords and remember a major pentatonic scale. But otherwise have forgotten so much.

im determined to learn and get good at jazz guitar. I have a real book. Where should I start? Should I get in person lessons? ( I live in NYC) or is there somewhere else you’d recommend that I start? Please advise

Yea... make a schedule of how much time you have, daily, week, months etc. 6 months at a time usually works.And you can adjust as you work etc.

Technical Skills

1) simple Drills... spider drills are very functional for left and right hands and work. Great to start with... 10 min.

2) Scales and arpeggios .... Start with Maj. scale and all it's diatonic versions of... which is just starting on each degree or note of that scale. On guitar it's easy to start with Gmaj. Scale and starting on lowest or 6th string and play two octaves up and back down. (details have been posted) And there are more scales and arpeggios, but wait until you have the Maj scale together in all positions. You need a starting system of fingerings that work on the guitar. The guitar is a 12 fret repeating instrument. Any fingering system will work to start, and in the end you'll know and use them all...

3) Chords... (you probable know open position cowboy and bar chords). Now it's time to learn position chords, these are chords that use a string as the reference and have voicings that move up or down the neck and start on each degree of a Scale. They are diatonic to that scale...
Start with Root 6th, 5th and 4th string roots. So you have 7 chords on each string that repeat and work within that 12 fret repeating syatem

4) Sight reading.... start with sight reading which is based on the 6th string root. It's called position sight reading
your learning how to sight read the notes on the fretboard with a musically organized system.
The second part is just work on rhythms... get Louis Bellson's Modern Rhythms in 4/4 (cheap) and just tap or sing the rhythms. Maybe only a bar or two to start..... memorize the patterns. Be able to recognize the pattern and not just the single parts... same with scales etc...

5) Tunes and Simple chord patterns, like Blues tunes and just simple two chord vamps..... Vamps are extremely important for developing "FEEL".

There is obviously more..... but make that schedule, and fill in the blanks. Ex. maybe just start with a weekly pattern that get you through the material... and adjust as you need. Gets some technical skill together before getting teacher... I've posted lots of material years ago.... I have a you tube channel that I used to use for posting vids on this forum... Reg 523... It's not organized and meant to be used for learning how to play...it was just used to post vids on this forum.... But there is a lot of good material and you can see my hands.

I'll try and post some more.... but my schedule is basically full 7 days a week... But I have holes etc...
Reg


I've posted or will post again hand outs of any or all the material.