Sheets of Sound for guitar by Jack Zucker Exercise 1

[jzucker]

This is the first installment of lessons. This line is a 5ths based line and it works well over Gm7. We will get deeper into it and I'll be adding video when I get it up and running.

The nomenclature for these lessons will be the downstroke symbol (looks like a little hat), the upstroke symbol (V) , p i m a for (thumb, index, middle, ring) and since I play this with pick and fingers the p and i fingers are tied up with the pick. You can also play this with fingerstyle or alternate picking.

A couple interesting notes:

1) At the beginning of the 2nd measure, we change directions. In order to facilitate this change, I break the picking pattern.
2) Notice that the last note in the exercise utilizes an upstroke so that it can be repeated without 2 downstrokes in a row.



Here's variation 1 of this exercise. This is prep for some really cool stuff which i'll begin to introduce soon.




Video:

[jasaco]

Thank you, Jack. Am looking forward to doing the drills. I'm sure you video will answer this but since I don't know how long that will be in coming, let me ask you how you would recommend handling these large stretches: stretch on the first two and jump/shift on the 2nd two? (I can't stretch for the 2nd two; don't know if other folks can or not.) If shifting, what fingers would you recommend (all 1, 2 &4?)

Thanks again.

[jzucker]

i use 1 2 4 for everything except the last string group in which I use 1 3 4. And i don't do any shifting for the first 2 string groups and just a slight shift on the last 2.

Also don't hold all the notes down as if they are chords. Play each note on it's own, letting go of the previous note just before you play the new note.

[mr. beaumont]

Cool.

Feeding a baby now, but visualizing how it will work. I'll be grabbing a guitar soon, hopefully.

[NSJ]

Thanks for putting that out.

A variation of exercise 5.51 from your book? --differences being minor not major, triplets not 8ths . So, 2 key concepts I get from this: (1) no pre-arranged left hand "planting", forces better/more precise left and right hand coordination? (2) And no taking the easy way out by skipping a string to reach the 3rd note of each sequence (i.e., playing that first "A" on the 3rd string, playing that 2nd "D" on the 2nd string, or playing that final "G" (two octaves up from 1st G) on the first string. Better articulation and feel when not skipping strings like that? This approach forces/develops that stretch, 3 fingers, five frets. EDIT: or, in the case of the last 2 sequences, 3 fingers, 3 consecutive strings, 6 (!) fret coverage. Definite chop buster if one wants to do this well, cleanly articulated as legato as possible, and in good time and feel.

[jazzuki]

Thanks. A1+.

[GuyBoden]

Good stuff, many thanks for the lesson, I find playing with fingers a big challenge. I can cheat and sweep this pattern.

[jzucker]

i would not recommend sweeping this pattern due to the string skip unless you do a hammer-on-from-nowhere on the last note in each sequence.

[GuyBoden]

i would not recommend sweeping this pattern due to the string skip unless you do a hammer-on-from-nowhere on the last note in each sequence.

Thanks you're correct, sweeping is the incorrect definition, I'm economy picking each three note pattern.

[David B]

Bit of a knuckle-buster.

[GuyBoden]

let me ask you how you would recommend handling these large stretches

If you don't already use these type of finger stretches, there's less of a stretch if you play the exercise in Em7 on the 12th fret, then try Dm7 starting on the 8th fret. Work down the fretboard until you can play the exercise in Fm7 at fret 1.

[GuyBoden]

Bit of a knuckle-buster.[/video]

Well done, I find that it's much easier if you economy pick each three note pattern.

[StevieB]

Thank you for posting these lessons Jack - much appreciated.

[mr. beaumont]

I love when an exercise exposes something in my playing...

For me, ascending is not too bad, already have it up to a decent tempo.

Descending is an absolute BEEYATCH.

[NSJ]

I love when an exercise exposes something in my playing...

For me, ascending is not too bad, already have it up to a decent tempo.

Descending is an absolute BEEYATCH.

Seems to me that is a universal problem. Totally guilty as charged. It's like brushing teeth but forgetting to floss.

[mr. beaumont]

Which is funny, because chromatic shit, box scale shapes...my descending is a lot faster than ascending.

Just proof of needing to practice. Anybody with me on that lobby for the 28 hour day?

[srlank]

This may be obvious to many of you, but I'm discovering that it's helping me to practice the hands separately, particularly the descending part with the right hand. It's also helping to get the right hand better by using a simpler pattern in the left-hand such as 1,2,3.

[GuyBoden]

Yes, I'm concentrating on only playing the descending pattern using the higher frets, starting at the 18th, until I get it up to speed.

[jzucker]

p.s.

I think it's worth the effort to do it pick and fingers as opposed to sweeping because if you want to get a real pocket feel with them, the sweeping won't accomplish that.

[GuyBoden]

p.s.

I think it's worth the effort to do it pick and fingers as opposed to sweeping because if you want to get a real pocket feel with them, the sweeping won't accomplish that.

You're correct again, I have problems playing "in the pocket" with my economy picking technique, but unfortunately I have no problems playing "out of the pocket".

[Rick5]

p.s.

I think it's worth the effort to do it pick and fingers as opposed to sweeping because if you want to get a real pocket feel with them, the sweeping won't accomplish that.

Jack,

This may be hard to do without a video, but you could you tell us a little bit about your nails? Do you file them like a classical player? Are they relatively long? Short?

Thanks,

Rick

[jzucker]

Jack,

This may be hard to do without a video, but you could you tell us a little bit about your nails? Do you file them like a classical player? Are they relatively long? Short?

Thanks,

Rick

i file them like a classical player except they are shorter. They are about on the level of the pad of the finger.

[Rick5]

i file them like a classical player except they are shorter. They are about on the level of the pad of the finger.

Thanks. That is very helpful!

[fep]

So far I've pratcticed this a little bit using fingerstyle.

What I like the most about the exercise is the second time we play the high Bb in which I'm playing those three notes plus the three after p i p, m i p.

Then the last triplet and into the first triplet of a repeat of the exercise: m i p, i p i, p i a etc.

That's new for me and a good technique to have.

[Patrick2]

i use 1 2 4 for everything except the last string group in which I use 1 3 4. And i don't do any shifting for the first 2 string groups and just a slight shift on the last 2.

Also don't hold all the notes down as if they are chords. Play each note on it's own, letting go of the previous note just before you play the new note.

This is exactly how I'm practicing the exercise. No shift on the first two and slight shift on the last two. Also, you'd probably need hands like Tal's to hold the notes down and play as if they were chords, not so much on the first two sets . . but the last two . . OUCH!!

Also, this exercise in parallel 5ths is kind like the motif Andy Summers of the Police uses in Message in a Bottle.

@Mr. Beaumont . . . Jeff, the descending of any exercise has always been my downfall. Whether it's straight ahead diatonic scales or more complicated arps. I gotta work on that too. I'm all for the 28 hrs in a day concept . . but, I'd like to take it a bit further and include 8 days in a week.