Jody Hughes - Posted - 01/24/2012:  10:01:07

Here is a video on how to think when learning a song or using TAB.  I demonstrate the concept using the first part of "Cripple Creek"

youtu.be/dvRRY9boVBY

Summary:

Think in terms of chords and know where you are at in the form of the song at all times.  This will in turn build a good base for improvisation.  I will develop these ideas across a series of videos.

Any Questions feel free to ask

Happy Learning,

Jody Hughes

Edited by - Jody Hughes on 02/10/2012 08:49:58

KRbanjo - Posted - 01/24/2012:  11:14:57

Jody,

That was excellent.  It was very helpful, thank you very much.

Kevin

Vapor - Posted - 01/24/2012:  11:23:51

Thanks

jjguinness - Posted - 01/24/2012:  14:14:26

Thanks Jody. That was most helpful. I  appreciate you posting this.

DannyT - Posted - 01/24/2012:  14:44:49

Very helpful, thank you. 

watereedkoi - Posted - 01/24/2012:  15:21:10

That was lovely! Can't wait for the next one!

DoubleHammer - Posted - 01/24/2012:  15:44:59

Wow! A light just went on for me. Thanks Jody!

sseiple - Posted - 01/24/2012:  18:06:05

​Very helpful Jody, thanks! I look forward to future installments.

Steve

DannyKato - Posted - 01/24/2012:  22:16:36

Really, totally cool!  I have to go to bed now, but I'll definitely try it tomorrow!

JRice43315 - Posted - 01/25/2012:  08:26:11

Jody, That was great, I'm thinking WOW why couldn't I see that before. Thanks

Jonathan

ironhead - Posted - 01/25/2012:  17:38:56

Jody, Super post and most helpful.Well explained and good playing as always. Looking forward to more of your posts. Thanks for taking the time. Brian M.

Jody Hughes - Posted - 01/26/2012:  19:32:17

Glad I could help.

Decon - Posted - 01/26/2012:  20:25:53

awsome, thanks for the video going to try this right now

Prof - Posted - 01/27/2012:  03:49:30

Nice demonstration, Jody -- looking forward to more! This technique obviously lends itself to backup work as well.

Jody Hughes - Posted - 01/27/2012:  08:24:11

quote:

---

Originally posted by Prof

Nice demonstration, Jody -- looking forward to more! This technique obviously lends itself to backup work as well.

---

This is why it's important to know where you're at in the chords and the form of the song at all times.  I find beginners often need to move more towards chordal thinking and less about individual notes and a memorized arrangement.  That is once they have the "melody" down.

If you don't know your chords and where they occur you will not have the freedom to interchange ideas on the fly.  Even if you want to think in terms of "licks", how can you insert them into the D chord for example if you don't know where it is in the song. 

I think this is a better way to start out at first, so you are combining knowledge of many things.  It is easier than thinking in terms of "licks."  Of course there are other ways which I will be getting into next time.

The ultimate goal is more individual expression.

Edited by - Jody Hughes on 01/27/2012 08:27:33

CAPT Steve - Posted - 01/28/2012:  11:24:30

Jody--thanks for this illustration.  It's very helpful to both hear and see the concept you're presenting.  Plus, this way makes a lot of sense and helps to begin to 'demystify' improvising.  Much appreciated and look forward to your next video post.

Steve

MOUNTAIN GOAT - Posted - 01/28/2012:  12:16:04

Cool That adds a fun aspect to pickin like gettin out of the groove and goin for the cushion

Richard Dress - Posted - 01/28/2012:  12:22:55

I think Jody has hit upon a useful way to start students upon the path to improvising.  His method is a break away, a first easy step to thinking differently about your picking.

Big I - Posted - 01/28/2012:  15:01:38

Great video. Looking forward to the next one.

rebelchile - Posted - 01/28/2012:  15:55:38

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jody Hughes

quote

---

This is why it's important to know where you're at in the chords and the form of the song at all times.  I find beginners often need to move more towards chordal thinking and less about individual notes and a memorized arrangement.  That is once they have the "melody" down.

If you don't know your chords and where they occur you will not have the freedom to interchange ideas on the fly.  Even if you want to think in terms of "licks", how can you insert them into the D chord for example if you don't know where it is in the song. 

I think this is a better way to start out at first, so you are combining knowledge of many things.  It is easier than thinking in terms of "licks."  Of course there are other ways which I will be getting into next time.

The ultimate goal is more individual expression.

 

These are the kind of examples that I have been trying to find. Good teaching method, very easy to understand. I am at the point of trying to beak away from tab and learning how to move up the neck and improvise.

I would like to see more "intermediate player" up the neck stuff. Maybe from a down the neck lead ride then into backup and then into an up the neck break, and back into backup again... not just vamping... to make a song interesting. So that I can understand where and how to get from one passage of a song to the other and in and out of the low and high lead breaks tastefully. Maybe that made sense?????

Thanks  

 

 

---

mikey5string - Posted - 01/28/2012:  16:43:44

great job.

I sent the link to a student of mine who is just beginning to get into improvisation. This helps take some of the "thats too hard" out of it. Actually, got a new idea for cripple creek myself!

thanks

Debbiej - Posted - 01/28/2012:  18:19:58

Thanks Jody, that was great! I can't wait for the next video.

bjango53 - Posted - 01/29/2012:  02:53:58

Many thanks Jody, great post.

With a few chord extensions "cripple c " can become kinda jazzy      

MrHoney - Posted - 01/29/2012:  10:09:59

I take this approach when trying to build up on songs I know pretty well.  Although, I have found some new ideas in this video. Thanks, can't wait to see more.

Byron

kb2dhg - Posted - 01/30/2012:  05:58:02

Hey this was very useful... THANKS

Jody Hughes - Posted - 01/30/2012:  17:44:32

These are the kind of examples that I have been trying to find. Good teaching method, very easy to understand. I am at the point of trying to beak away from tab and learning how to move up the neck and improvise.

I would like to see more "intermediate player" up the neck stuff. Maybe from a down the neck lead ride then into backup and then into an up the neck break, and back into backup again... not just vamping... to make a song interesting. So that I can understand where and how to get from one passage of a song to the other and in and out of the low and high lead breaks tastefully. Maybe that made sense?????

Thanks  

---

I understand what you are saying.  I refer to the switch from Lead to Backup as the "transition phase."

Sometimes it's not easy to know when to come out of lead into the backup and vice versa.  A lot will depend on whether or not your breaks have pickup notes. Perhaps I will make a video showing exactly how to do that using Cripple Creek.

Jody Hughes - Posted - 02/01/2012:  06:31:38

I received an email asking for the up the neck chord shapes used:

G chord in 7th position is as follows
9th fret 1st string, 8th fret 2nd string (index), 7th fret 3rd string (middle)

The C Chord 8th position is
10th fret 1st string, 8th fret 2nd string (index), 9th fret 3rd string (middle)

These are just like the ones you use in vamping minus the fourth string.

JDsbanjo - Posted - 02/01/2012:  10:12:47

good video. I remember when you taught me this and the lights went off like a pinball machine. 

Edited by - JDsbanjo on 02/01/2012 10:13:23

rebelchile - Posted - 02/01/2012:  19:01:10

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jody Hughes

These are the kind of examples that I have been trying to find. Good teaching method, very easy to understand. I am at the point of trying to beak away from tab and learning how to move up the neck and improvise.

I would like to see more "intermediate player" up the neck stuff. Maybe from a down the neck lead ride then into backup and then into an up the neck break, and back into backup again... not just vamping... to make a song interesting. So that I can understand where and how to get from one passage of a song to the other and in and out of the low and high lead breaks tastefully. Maybe that made sense?????

Thanks

Sometimes it's not easy to know when to come out of lead into the backup and vice versa.  A lot will depend on whether or not your breaks have pickup notes. Perhaps I will make a video showing exactly how to do that using Cripple Creek.

I would appreciate that very much, and I know that there are a lot of others like myself that have the same question and would like to see how you do it.

Thanks for the help.

 

---

feldspar1333 - Posted - 02/01/2012:  20:50:45

Good stuff Jody.  Thanks.

hotmtrsports - Posted - 02/02/2012:  05:54:45

Fantastic. I knew it was important to learn the chords. Now I realize how important it is to know those same chords all the way up the fretboard.

Very exciting and fun!

Thanks Jody!

Chuck M

Edited by - hotmtrsports on 02/02/2012 05:57:32

farm48 - Posted - 02/02/2012:  20:48:06

Jody , thank you very much!   Seems like a simple approach, but I sure never thought of it!  Thanks again, and look forward to more of your videos for beginners and intermediates.  Bob....