Mark Wein Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 A few more from the back catalog... Major Pentatonic Scale Lesson #1 Major Pentatonic Scale Lesson #2 - The 3-2 Scale Fingering Major Pentatonic Scale Lesson #3 - Major Triad Ideas Major Pentatonic Scale Lesson #4 - Putting it all together with a solo Using Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales to play Blues Chord Changes I'm also doing a little work on our forums this month (the regular forum is here: www.MWGLforums.com ) and I was hoping I could get a few folks to play around with the test site and give me a little feedback (ala HC 2.0 ). I've gotten some great feedback so far.... I haven't started on the skin or "look" of the site but I am just trying out the functionality of the new vBulletin 4.0 before I change our regular site over...here is the test site: www.markweinguitarlessons.com/vbtest If you've registered on our current forum before December 2009 then you can use your regular login.....if you've registered after that you'll need to register a new account if you want to log in since I'm using an old database backup to give the forum some content. Every user account should be able to have its own blog, and good blog articles can be promoted to articles on the front page of the site...as can cool forum posts.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulinpoland Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I enjoy your lessons a lot.....it's like you haven't forgotten how it is to be a beginner. One point I'd like to make, about guitar teaching elsewhere, is this.... Why do most books and courses start with the C major chord, the D major chord and the G major chord? Is this just sadism? And after all the pain and frustration of nailing these chords? Wow, you can play "Jimmy Crack Corn" and "Oh My Darlin' ". In one of Mark's lessons, he shows how you can play a groovy bluesy thing using just two fretting fingers over only three frets (comfortably around the fifth position).....using the third and seventh notes of A7, D7 and E7 on strings three and four. Instant music! And an excellently simple insight into note economy, chord tones, target notes etc etc. Credit the beginner with sense and feelings, I say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wein Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thanks! Why do most books and courses start with the C major chord, the D major chord and the G major chord? ! Actually, I save C for the second page of chords in my book "Foundations for Guitar" Even though the "C to just about any other chord" change is really difficult for most beginniners most books include it because with G, D and Em you can get rolling playing a bunch of songs right off the bat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meganutt7 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 While I don't necessarily disagree that beginners should have an easy intro to guitar, I think that keeping things too easy for too long may be a bit of an illusion for them... I think it is important, and in fact I tell ALL my students this, that playing guitar is NOT hard. It IS, however, time consuming to MAKE IT EASY.... or at least EASIER.... You have to have enough mental power, stamina and focus to really CARE about getting that C chord right, or that Melodic Minor Scale, or that sweep picking run, or transcribing that Coltrane solo.... It's really imperative to have a reverence for what you do and not belittle it...I remember hearing the story of how Tony MacAlpine got to be really good... While others listened to, say, the Kinks or the Rolling Stones and that was their barometer for how to play, he listened to Chopin and Paganini and Yngwie Malmsteen and Uli Roth, etc. and THAT was his barometer... I think that especially kids and beginners that are open minded are idealistic enough and naive enough to BELIEVE that ANYTHING is possible.I think this is one of the most important things to always try to tell yourself.Anything is possible.C chords are not sadistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wein Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Yep! One of the reasons why I wrote my book was to have a roadmap for beginning students. They could see where they were going with things and I could organize how I wanted the earlier phases of their development to go. I make sure that they know that the beginning of lessons with me is a bunch of repetition physically and can be a little tedious but that within the first month they'll be strumming simple songs and getting on the road to playing music that they understand with decent physical technique. I guess I end up being as much of a "frustration manager" as a teacher sometimes but the majority of my students "get it" within the first month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meganutt7 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Mark, that is a very impressive track record. Knowing how difficult it can be with some of the less musically inclined students and the ones who have concentration problems, I applaud your efforts and results... I have some students that kill within a few months... They just blossom and bloom... Then I have others who have been playing a year and will just not do any work.... They have some form of ADD and just want to plunk strings and hear the noise they make and nothing else seems to matter to them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wein Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Mark, that is a very impressive track record. Knowing how difficult it can be with some of the less musically inclined students and the ones who have concentration problems, I applaud your efforts and results...I have some students that kill within a few months... They just blossom and bloom...Then I have others who have been playing a year and will just not do any work.... They have some form of ADD and just want to plunk strings and hear the noise they make and nothing else seems to matter to them... Thanks! You'll always have the ones that won't put any time into it...thats just human nature... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meganutt7 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Sad but true... I hate being a teacher/babysitter...It'd be far better for those not interested in learning and putting forth effort to find a field that they ARE passionate about....Life is about devotion and dedication to your passions... If you don't give it your all, it won't give you its' all in return...Am I right or am I right?? or am I right??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulinpoland Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 Of course you're right....you're a professor! I teach English, and sometimes it's only the parents who think it's a good idea for their darling to have the lessons. Often with these students, the hour of the lesson can feel like three days! On the other hand,the students with enthusiasm are a pleasure to teach! If they're really keen, I hate ending the lesson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meganutt7 Posted January 8, 2010 Members Share Posted January 8, 2010 I actually don't end lessons alot of the time... I will let a lesson run long if the student is interested and engaged in what we are discussing/practicing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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