1 key, 3 strings for a year

[joe2758]

I will be starting a personal experiment that may be of interest to a few people here.


For the next year I will:

• Only play in the key of A
• Only play the first three strings
• Not practice technique exercises
• Not make or learn arrangements
• Not intentionally learn or make licks
• Not intentionally learn tunes
• Not play with or in front of people
• Not play with practice tracks or albums
• Not practice unless I feel like it, even if that ends up being most of the year
• Not try to remember anything I played at an earlier time.

My personal circumstances allow me to take a "gamble" here in terms of my progress, but my experience has shown me directly nothing bad can come of it.


I could write a book on my reasons, theory, and musical history, and feel free to ask, but I will try to keep the thread as succinct as possible.


Bare bones background on me:

• Played guitar 20 years
• 2 years music school for classical guitar
• I view jazz very much through a Barry Harris approach lens (BH will indicate a term that is known amongst those who studied his materials, but may be confusing to someone else).

Here is what the first entry is:


After a couple weeks of playing within my new guidelines, I have noticed a few things:

• The proper use of borrowed notes (BH) is cleared up beyond the shadow of a doubt by applying classical music theory, i.e. non harmonic tones.
• The principles as they relate to each other are cleared up beyond the shadow of a doubt by focusing on the horizontal movement on each string, as opposed to position playing which is physically and visually not representative of musical principles.
• With the continuous movement afforded by only playing 2-3 note chords, I never once found myself missing the sound of fuller chords.
• The issue of single note lines being "lined up" right rhythmically, or "landing on the right part of the beat, or generally sounding correct, is cleared up beyond the shadow of a doubt by playing up and down the 6th dim(BH) scale on a single string while applying non-harmonic tones.

Happy to chat more if anyone is interested, I just didn't want to start with a Godzilla post

[AllanAllen]

What are the first 3 strings? E A D or G B e?

[joe2758]

G B e, but I allow myself to use the other strings as drones at times.

For example if I am playing E6dim as a sub for A, then I may play open A to make sure I am hearing it as such.

[pauln]

Application of constraints can provide an effective way of blowing the dust off of one's settled ways, encouraging the discovery of new and different methods, techniques, or ways of thinking. Typically one limits the number of constraints to one or two and applies them for a relatively temporary period; however, you have listed ten constraints by which you intend to abide, and are planning to do so for a year.

Have you considered:

- after one year of fingering only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings, you might find returning to fingering the whole width of the finger board that you have lost some of that previous ability, both physically and mentally?
- four of your constraints are to deliberately not learn or remember things; what if you succeed and that becomes a strong habit after the year is over?
- with a plan of no multiple keys, no lower three strings, no technique exercises, no learning of arraignments, licks, tunes, no playing for people or with backing music, no practice unless felt, and no remembering anything, this plan does not seem to be oriented toward improvement of playing the guitar. It does have some other musically interesting possibilities; have you considered applying this to the piano and not to the guitar?

[Jimmy Smith]

1 word: wtf.

Why do you want to not do all those important practice topics? I can understand things like focusing on 3 strings to improve that area but not much of the other things. My view is you want to improve skills by working on them consistently to improve creativity or music ability, not ignore them. Give us more of your reasoning.

[A. Kingstone]

Good to see you're inspired to play Joe.

Alan

[princeplanet]

I've done stranger things, and for longer periods of time. But then I wasn't smart enough to tell people on the forum about it, so that they may have talked me out of it!

[AllanAllen]

You could do worse with your time like watch hours of Jens Larsen YouTube videos or only learning 8 bars of a bunch of tunes and never going back to them…

[mr. beaumont]

Me: you're fucking nuts.

Also me: cool!

[Blackguard53]

You could do worse with your time like watch hours of Jens Larsen YouTube videos or only learning 8 bars of a bunch of tunes and never going back to them…

Jens Larsen got me back into playing jazz guitar, and his lessons are bite sized enough to break you out of a rut or start off a practice session without feeling overwhelmed going into it. I like him. And Tim Lerch.

[Tal_175]

Welcome back Joe.
What difficulty are you trying to hone in on with these limitations? Is there a specific pedagogical goal?
Are you transposing tunes to the key of A? What about tunes that change keys? What about the chords that are harmonic expansions to the key, like secondary dominants? Or are you not playing tunes at all?

[joe2758]

I was holding off a bit because I wasn't sure if I would be talking to myself; but here is additional info.


Keep in mind my situation is different than most in that I have a lot of experience and knowledge already, but I could quit tomorrow and not care.


I think this will answer most of the above questions.


Paul's point about considering applying this to piano was so interesting to me, so I'll start the story a little earlier than I was going to on order to include why that struck me.


A few years ago I quit playing guitar and did not pick one up for maybe 3 years. Last year I sold my cherished 175 and amp. I had in the past taken a couple year long breaks as well. But don't let this lead you to believe I was any less passionate and dedicated as anyone else here.


At some point this year, for whatever reason, I had the thought I would put keyboard stickers on the piano for the cmajor 6 dim scale. I don't play piano.


I had fun fiddling for a few minutes here and there whenever I may have been passing through the den. After a couple weeks I added stickers for D min 6 dim. As time went on I added F maj 6 dim, and then Ab min 6 stickers. By the time I added Bb min 6 dim stickers I was fluently playing and improvising more freely, and in the style I wanted to play but could only scratch on guitar, within a couple months of "fiddling around."


When I learned harmony for guitar back in the day, playing a scale in 3rds was like "tonic is major 3rd, next is minor 3rd, another minor 3rd, next is a major ..." or "On the 6 and 3rd string a major 10th is like this, and a minor is like this, but on strings 5 and 2 the minor shape is the same as the major shape on the other string set and the major is different."


On piano it was like "left hand starts on C and right starts on E- play the scale with both hands. left hand starts on C right hand starts on Ab- play the scale with both hands. Left hand starts on B right hand starts on C- play the scale. Any combination of 2 notes was not harder than any other and required no knowledge of shapes or intervals.


Why could I do it on piano after essentially no work?

• I only had to learn something once in order to play it in that key.
• I had 10 fingers to push around 4 notes rather than 4 fingers to push around 4 notes. 3 voices should be the max on guitar unless you're Pasquale Grasso, and making a fuller chord should never come at the cost of less movement.
• There is only the shape of the scale, no arbitrary and confusing chord and interval shapes, e.g. like how things change on various string sets. The keyboard is like a single guitar string.

A single string sure, but that doesn't allow for harmony...


I looked under my bed, moved out a couple tubs of Christmas decorations, pulled out my guitar case, and literally dusted it off.


Thus began this rabbit hole of rethinking everything I have learned, which is the true topic here at hand-- not guitar, piano, Barry Harris, or Pasquale Grasso.


To be continued.


mini update: I plan on playing the 3rd string if I pick up the guitar this week

[joe2758]

Application of constraints can provide an effective way of blowing the dust off of one's settled ways, encouraging the discovery of new and different methods, techniques, or ways of thinking. Typically one limits the number of constraints to one or two and applies them for a relatively temporary period; however, you have listed ten constraints by which you intend to abide, and are planning to do so for a year.

Have you considered:

- after one year of fingering only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings, you might find returning to fingering the whole width of the finger board that you have lost some of that previous ability, both physically and mentally?
- four of your constraints are to deliberately not learn or remember things; what if you succeed and that becomes a strong habit after the year is over?
- with a plan of no multiple keys, no lower three strings, no technique exercises, no learning of arraignments, licks, tunes, no playing for people or with backing music, no practice unless felt, and no remembering anything, this plan does not seem to be oriented toward improvement of playing the guitar. It does have some other musically interesting possibilities; have you considered applying this to the piano and not to the guitar?

Very nice post, thanks.

Some things I'm not going to put effort toward, but that doesn't mean I am putting that effort into avoiding them.

Having taken many long term breaks, I know basically the worst that could happen.

Each constraint was well thought out and have certain purposes. For example, playing for or with other people will change what when where how why I practice. It ties together

[joe2758]

Welcome back Joe.
What difficulty are you trying to hone in on with these limitations? Is there a specific pedagogical goal?
Are you transposing tunes to the key of A? What about tunes that change keys? What about the chords that are harmonic expansions to the key, like secondary dominants? Or are you not playing tunes at all?

Hey old friend,
The reason I put this in the pedagogy section is because I feel there are two types to benefit from this:
1. Amateurs who have a love hate relationship with guitar
2. Teachers teaching students to teach themselves

Any tunes I play will just be quotes of tunes that pop up during improv. Since nothing will be thought out ahead of time, I can't do more than that if I tried.

I will be using all sorts of substitutions and outside tones, but all through the lens of A. That is when it will be important to have some drones available.

[AllanAllen]

Jens Larsen got me back into playing jazz guitar, and his lessons are bite sized enough to break you out of a rut or start off a practice session without feeling overwhelmed going into it. I like him. And Tim Lerch.

I like him too, but 3 years ago I guess I thought if I watched enough of his videos I’d get better. Turns out I need to pick up the guitar to get better.

[Jimmy Smith]

If you don't like guitar and are ready to quit without remorse then switch to keys lol.

[grahambop]

Mick Goodrick advocates practising on one string (the ‘unitar’ approach), so 3 strings are plenty!

Coincidentally, I dug out my copy of Randy Vincent’s ‘3 note voicings’ book this week and messed around with it. I’d been listening to some Ed Bickert comping and I thought 3-note harmony would be good to work on (easier to move around etc.).

[joe2758]

Cont. from post #12


Following my ingenious discovery that I couldn't play harmony on a single string, I started playing up and down the A6dim scale on the 1st and 2nd strings with an open A drone. I played it in 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths.


Aside from the 2nds and 6ths being stretchy, there was almost no difference between playing these intervals up and down the scale. Why? Because I only saw two things now: The A6dim scale on the 2nd string marked with mental keyboard stickers (like the perception we have of chord/scale diagrams), and the same on the 1st string below it.


When I watched two voices move up and down within a scale on a keyboard was the same way I was seeing two voices moving up and down the fretboard horizontally one voice per string..each string is a voice. One voice starts on 5th fret one voice starts on 4th fret-- play the scale etc


My insight was, the way guitar is taught is in order to expand the range and get around technical problems, not as a vehicle to understanding the inner workings of music and improvising.


I was doing something better after 3 years of not playing than I was doing before during a 3 year period of trying to shed all intervals and scales in all keys and string sets. I am beginning to think these two functions should be reversed.


I thought, "It would be good if I could go back in time and teach myself from the beginning." I bet we have all had that thought at some point.


I realized I actually can in a way. I don't have any stock in my musical knowledge and ability; I mentally gave it up (This is another story, but I consider it an achievement.) I can be my own teacher and student, and if it fails it is just an answer to my hypothesis-- not a setback.


I mentally mapped out how this teaching would progress and I have a solid year of material as far as I can tell.


All my blank slate self knows is solid basic technique, a specific style in mind, and basic working knowledge of the guitar and music theory.


Lesson 1.


Play the A6dim scale on the 3rd string up and down with open A drone.


An endless dull string of quarter notes back and forth until, after longer than you'd like, you see the entire string at once as you would see a chord shape on the fretboard. The shape haunts your dreams at night. You do anything you can to occupy your mind through the drudgery; name notes, name solfeg, perfectly even and legato, staccato, as fast as possible, as slow as possible, in 3/4...


Every fingering you can think of, but the baseline fingering is in twos: finger 1 and 2 for a half step, fingers 1 and 3 for whole steps. starting on the 1st fret it would be


1,2,(shift)1, 3, shift) etc


Have fun, self

[ccroft]

He's only talking about doing it for a year. I've been forced into abstinence a few times for much longer periods. Getting it back is easy, and I came back with a new attitude each time.

I think it's interesting. Limitations can be good. Witness: Blues. Also, the bowed orchestral instruments. They enjoy only 4 strings and no more than 2 notes at a time, for the most part.

Fortunately I have several of long-standing limitations to keep me amused already :-)

[Jimmy blue note]

As long as your studies and project comes from a place of thought out intention and motivation, I think you definitely unearth something extraordinary by not taking the guitar for granted. It's not a restriction but a way to focus. I get that. Hats off to you!
I sometimes wonder if Django would have achieved what he did if he didn't have such impossible restrictions...or what he would have become if after a period he regained the faculties we take for granted.

I met Tiny Grimes once. After being amazed after finding out his guitar only had 4 strings, I wondered what he could have done with 6, so I asked him if he'd ever considered a 6 string guitar. He told me "I have my hands full with 4. I get everything I can think of out these. I don't need anything else." so he found a limitless universe in his restrictions, which he didn't think of as a restriction at all.
I wouldn't have the patience to impose such limitations but no matter what I'm working with, I find something new every day. There's not enough time in a lifetime to do justice to those things I do have and find.

Best of luck to you. I hope you share your findings and insights.

[joe2758]

I appreciate that, thanks.

[joe2758]

After a long practice session of Lesson 1 today, here is what I practiced:

Because the 3rd string will always be the tenor, it will now be known as the tenor string.

Always knowing "this is A6dim, the 1 chord, the Tonic chord, in the key of A on the Tenor string:

• imagine a circle where the A6 notes are, and an X where the dim notes are while playing
• Imagine numbers indicating the degree of the scale on the fretboard while playing
• Imagine the letters indicating the note on the fretboard while playing
• Imagine the solfège syllables on the fretboard while playing
• imagine the sound the note will produce on the fretboard before it rings while playing
• Imagine to sing the note as it rings as if you were George Benson while playing
• Strive for perfect tone at all times while playing
• Strive for the softest touch possible for playing a nice tone while playing
• Strive for the most relaxed hands possible while playing
• Strive to see the fretboard in the broadest way possible while playing

[pauln]

I thought, "It would be good if I could go back in time and teach myself from the beginning." I bet we have all had that thought at some point.
I realized I actually can in a way...I can be my own teacher and student...

I'm self taught. In the beginning my interest was "lead guitar".

The usual way guitarists get started is to play cowboy chords and sing songs through the initiation period of sore finger tips for the first two months. Some go on to learn more chords, some go on to learn soloing with notes.

My approach was like starting the piano, playing single notes first. I taught myself lead solos for two years before playing any chords. When I did turn to playing chords I found they were easy to construct since they were made up of notes, something with which I had become familiar. To this day almost all the chords I play are self constructed.

Chords are made of notes, but notes are not made of chords; learning notes first seems obvious, but that may be quite rare in the guitar world. Anyway, I think maybe I'm starting to understand some of your unusual crusade.

[joe2758]

Insights into borrowed notes as they relate to my playing


There are these two types of non-harmonic tones, or "borrowed notes:"

• Accented
• non- accented

There are these 5 types of accented borrowed notes:

• Passing tone (>PT)
• Neighboring tone (>NT)
• Appoggiatura (App.)
• Suspension (Sus.)
• Retardation (Ret.)

There are these 4 types of non-accented borrowed notes:

• PT
• NT
• Anticipation (Ant.)
• Escape tone (ET)

There are 5 accented borrowed notes instead of 4 because suspension and retardation are two sides of one coin, namely descending vs ascending respectively.


There are these 2 types of borrowed notes that may be accented or not accented:

• (>)PT
• (>)NT

(>)PT are always chromatic


(>)NT should be pre or proceeded by another borrowed tone or played with a triplet in order to prevent being stagnant on 1 chord for 2 beats.


Lower NT and App. should be chromatic, and upper should be diatonic


These 9 movements represent the entire basis for melodic and harmonic playing


following this will make everything sound "right.," and jazz lines make themselves


These are the component parts which make up what are known as "enclosures."

I am playing lines on the tenor string using this model.

I can improvise lines at a very slow speed this way and am happy with the content of the lines.

At this point my challenge is to resist:
1. Not practice technique excercises- playing lines on 1 string is a technical challenge
2.Not make licks- my natural inclination, especially because the improvising on one string and staying true to the 9 nonharmonic tone method only allows for slow motion playing at this time, Practicing them as licks would be the only way to play them fluently and with swing at this point. However, I do know the lines themselves would be good if I did practice them.
3. Not think "I will remember this for later."

I will only play at the speed I can improvise the lines, no faster.

[joe2758]

Mick Goodrick advocates practising on one string (the ‘unitar’ approach), so 3 strings are plenty!

Coincidentally, I dug out my copy of Randy Vincent’s ‘3 note voicings’ book this week and messed around with it. I’d been listening to some Ed Bickert comping and I thought 3-note harmony would be good to work on (easier to move around etc.).

Are you familiar with the idea of non-harmonic tones as I describe (I'm sure technically wrong in some way) above?

It was a really freeing light-bulb-moment for me