Modern Method for Guitar Vol 3

[dcontoyannis]

I started working on Vol 3 recently and thought I'd share my progress as I go in case it is helpful to others. I'll stick with posting the duets and solo etudes, and spare you the scales and arpeggios!


Here is Melodic Rhythm Study No. 8 (duet), pg. 18

[dcontoyannis]

A Minor Etude, pg. 31

[dcontoyannis]

Recognition of Melodic Degrees (pp. 33-34)

I found these exercises to be pretty enlightening in terms of connecting the fretboard. These chord exercises are challenging for me to play smoothly, but I feel like there's hope with more practice. Really enjoying this book so far. At my current rate of study, I'll finish it in about 5 years

[dcontoyannis]

Chord Construction - 3 Note Voicings (pg 41)

Another chord extension exercise, played on this Epiphone ES-175 Premium that I picked up a few months ago.

[Mark Fowler]

Nice! I haven't made it all the way through vol 2 - I make progress for awhile and then stop and then re-start at the beginning. I hope to one day get to vol 3, so I do appreciate your posts here!

[dcontoyannis]

I can relate - it can be slow going. I try to work on this book at least a few minutes per day even if I'm not feeling motivated. Some days I get into it, other days it feels like homework. Well worth it though! I'll keep posting, but you very well may catch up with me at the rate I'm going these days.

[AllanAllen]

Nice! I haven't made it all the way through vol 2 - I make progress for awhile and then stop and then re-start at the beginning. I hope to one day get to vol 3, so I do appreciate your posts here!

I wouldn’t restart at the beginning. Just pick up where you left off, the dust will shake itself off.

[Mark Fowler]

Originally Posted by Mark Fowler
Nice! I haven't made it all the way through vol 2 - I make progress for awhile and then stop and then re-start at the beginning. I hope to one day get to vol 3, so I do appreciate your posts here!

I wouldn’t restart at the beginning. Just pick up where you left off, the dust will shake itself off.

I finally finished Vol 2! I didn't completely go back to the beginning of Vol 2 but I did go back and quickly review some of the key concepts.

Wow... lots of arpeggio work at the end! And a very brief intro to whole tone scale - not that useful but interesting.

Onward to Vol 3 where I'm sure it will be more slow going.

[dcontoyannis]

Melodic Rhythm Study No. 9 (duet), pg. 49

Hi all - back with my semi-annual posting.

[Danil]

Melodic Rhythm Study No. 9 (duet), pg. 49

Hi all - back with my semi-annual posting.

Hey, that's just beautiful! Enormous progress (and some say WL books are boring and outdated, but do they teach playing).

[dcontoyannis]

Thanks! Lately, I've been trying to focus more on the right hand and cleaning up the rhythms (playing in time better). Maybe it's just me, but my focus as a guitar player has always been on the fretting hand. I'm finding that the more my fretboard knowledge is improving, I can let the left hand just do its thing and actually pay attention to the picking hand (and using the ears) more.

[dcontoyannis]

Etude in D Minor (solo) (pg 53)

OK, one more. Pretty happy with this one (but not perfect by any stretch of the imagination).

[charlieparker]

Thanks! Lately, I've been trying to focus more on the right hand and cleaning up the rhythms (playing in time better). Maybe it's just me, but my focus as a guitar player has always been on the fretting hand. I'm finding that the more my fretboard knowledge is improving, I can let the left hand just do its thing and actually pay attention to the picking hand (and using the ears) more.

Do you improvise or play Jazz? Personally, I like the material but I always wondered how helpful it would be for playing Jazz.

[dcontoyannis]

Do you improvise or play Jazz? Personally, I like the material but I always wondered how helpful it would be for playing Jazz.

I do improvise - mostly blues/rock. It has been very helpful for that - I'm finding it much easier to move up and down the neck, and hit the chord tones on the changes. My jazz playing is pretty rudimentary but it's something I aspire to. My daughter is learning jazz piano, so I try to sit down with her and play along with her tunes but I don't feel too confident improvising on them yet.

[charlieparker]

I do improvise - mostly blues/rock. It has been very helpful for that - I'm finding it much easier to move up and down the neck, and hit the chord tones on the changes. My jazz playing is pretty rudimentary but it's something I aspire to. My daughter is learning jazz piano, so I try to sit down with her and play along with her tunes but I don't feel too confident improvising on them yet.

Did you go through all of the books? Did you skip around and how long have you been working on them? Debating whether to invest time on these books.

[dcontoyannis]

Did you go through all of the books? Did you skip around and how long have you been working on them? Debating whether to invest time on these books.

I'm still working on book 3, but yes I did also go through books 1 and 2. I haven't been skipping around - going straight through and trying to follow the "method." That said, there are some sections I spend more or less time on.

For book 1, there is a DVD (videos available online too) that I watched - the instructor was a bit dry, but had some good tips here and there. Books 2 and 3 don't have the videos but there are some on YouTube by students. I generally try to read the music and learn how to play it myself before watching any videos. My goal is typically to be able to play everything cleanly at 80 bpm (although I play the chord melodies slower). Duets, I will record both parts on GarageBand to see how they sound together. The books are light on music theory content, so I've supplemented that with other sources.

I have been working on these for quite some time. Book 1, I started during Covid lockdown. It took about a year. After lockdown, I have less time to play so progress has slowed down. Book 2 took a couple of years. Book 3... we'll see. I sometimes get really motivated to make progress on the books, and other times it feels like homework and I'm more motivated to play other things.

So, is it worth investing the time? For me - yes! It has given me a really good understanding of the fretboard, chord construction, opened my ear up to different sounds, gives me more ideas to experiment with, etc. This was the path I started on and I'm committed to finishing (eventually).

Final note - I have played guitar for quite some time (started as a teen in the 90s, played in a few rock bands over the years) so I already had some technical ability. My motivation when I picked up the books was to actually "learn" the guitar and improve my musicianship and these books will definitely help if you put in the time and practice.