Breakthrough Learning to "Hear" those Notes!

[DeafBlind Renee]

This might be not be such a big deal for most, but for me, this is practically a miracle. I have been going through Jonathon's courses and the Academy's for a while now. And yes, I am progressing and having fun even just playing scales because if you make it musical, it's not just scales, anymore, as we are taught. Well, I also got an itch to go back and hit some songs that I had learned on my own in the last few years. I was told that I was good with rhythm and though not professional, it was always pretty good. Going back after the courses, I have found my rhythm and just general sense of music is MUUUUUCCCCHHHH better! I have also been going back and trying to "listen" to music as suggested by @Danny and @Doug Van Bevers to explore the music. Well, that's not so easy, you know? But hey, I am feeling music playing guitar, so let's go back to trying again. I started with Bad Moon Rising which is one of my many favorites. I get the general picture, so I can usually figure out stuff, but this time, I noticed that their was something after the verses 2 and 3 at the end of the phrases. I knew from playing that it was something being done on top of the D chord. I couldn't distinguish it though. So, I pull up an old video on YouTube of them playing live. Found it! It was fleeting moments, but I could see the chord, but John was also doing something else around it. Well, I know from the courses about adding some lead notes to chords now. I can't see it well enough to know what he was playing, but maybe I could figure it out. Key is D, so D Major/Pentatonic scales? First choice to explore would be D Major Pentatonic. So, I did. I knew where he was on the fretboard, so I just found the notes there that would be in D and tried a few. After some trial and error, I found it. D string 2 and 4, G string 2 and 4 and 2. I may not be spot on, but it seems to work if I can do it fast enough to the rhythm. So, this old gal can learn something new. I may not be able to always hear it, feel it, or see it, but I know enough now that I can figure it out! That just blew my mind! 

Thanks to all that contributed to this because it was Jonathon, Ryan, Doug, Danny, Rich, and even others who gave tips in posts that helped me put it all together. Now, I even have pedals that I just got to explore with, so Geoff has made that possible. Loving this. My corner of the world just got brighter and noiser which is saying something!

[Doug Van Bevers]

I LOVE IT! I'm very excited for you being able to figure out what other musicians are doing now. It shows your dedication to the craft and naturally the scope of your musical awareness is broadening because of it. Keep it up and continue to reap the rewards on your journey. DONT STOP... Believing!! haha

[DeafBlind Renee]

2 hours ago, Doug Van Bevers said:

I LOVE IT! I'm very excited for you being able to figure out what other musicians are doing now. It shows your dedication to the craft and naturally the scope of your musical awareness is broadening because of it. Keep it up and continue to reap the rewards on your journey. DONT STOP... Believing!! haha

Thanks, Doug! That means so much coming from you!