That’s a really good idea.
You Jammers. What do you see when you move about?
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And keep in mind, if it’s a Jake Lick, it WILL be cool.
Shaky watches as one by one every Lindblom likes his post
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So true 
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For me, guitar and mandolin are easier to come up with creative things for than banjo. At least traditional Scruggs style. That’s a big reason why I like melodic style so much, it really opens up the different phrases, melodies, and licks you can play. I just need to get good at doing it 
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Learning new licks is like expanding your vocabulary… different ways to say the same thing if you will.
If you want to make your playing less repetitive I have basically one suggestion: Learn da licks.
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I agree with the memorizing licks, building your arsenal with muscle memory licks, etc. but I also think it’s important to figure out why they work. Dissect them and understand what shape you’re in, and why. Then you’re not just memorizing patterns but teaching yourself how to build your own.
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Oh I have no style in mind.
Was just looking for something where folks might say “This is is a great exercise for right hand technigue/alternate picking speed building” and share it. Could be an excersize that works on two different areas with a focus on alternate picking speed building.
My goals? Five years ago I could memorize fiddle tunes and such, but I didn’t understand them musicallt. I wanted to work towards becoming a decent guitar player…knew in the world of getting good at anything you had to have solid fundamentals. So I decided to go ahead and make the effort. Mentally told myself 5-8 years is what I need and hope it doesn’t take 10. I have 3-4 left.
I’m determined, it will happen.
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You were def blessed. I am guessing you are one of those “perfect pitch” freaks? Jealous if you are. Folks with perfect pitch get to cut off about 10 years of schooling compared to the rest of us. While we are still stuck on working out the melody for Mary Had a Little Lamb folks like you have already masterered and expanded upon Piano Concerto #2.
Jealous? Yep.
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You actually definitely don’t need perfect pitch to remember what certain frets sound like on a guitar… this would be “learned” as you play while perfect pitch is developed as an infant. What shaky is referring to would be closer to “true pitch”- being able to remember what certain notes sound like through repetition or “relative pitch”- being able to produce any note if a reference is provided. The latter is 100% learnable and by far my most valuable skill as a musician.
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In fact it can be better NOT to have perfect pitch… you can lose it as you get older and your musical perception could get thrown for a bit of a loop.
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Odd. Banjo tuning finds me being able to “jam” easy. I could pick up a banjo (never ever tried to play one) and could jam and find melodies. There was point around 10 years ago that I seriously thought about putting a banjo in my hand simply because it worke dfor me. No way I could do on guitar after 6-8 years what I could do on banjo the first time I ever put one in my lap.
…but it’s a banjer. Who in their right mind wants to be associated with playing one? Can’t compromise my Social Score by picking up a banjer.
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Suggestion on the latter? Did you learn through ear training interval excersizes? Other method if not?
I’m interested in this stuff btw. I’m at a fork in the road, seems I spend more time reasearching about which fork (practice route) in the road to take than I am actually practicing.
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Just listening to music and repeating it in my head etc. Combined with playing it developed naturally. When I went to Cabin Camp in 2019, Ben taught us about it and I started exercising it more- e.g. determining the key of a song without my instrument by listening to the mandolin and fiddle, etc.
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For me, listening to music and playing along in my head is just as helpful or more helpful than actually playing. Some albums I must have listened to hundreds of times, just listening and thinking about the stuff in my head. You just have to constantly be “listening” in your mind to music, even if there’s none playing.
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What he said.
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I just thought on this a bit recently while playing and was a bit surprised with the results.
What I look at & what I “see” are two different things.
I’ve played so much on fret-less instruments that I’ve developed the habit of “seeing” patterns in my mind, and feeling them through muscle memory, but my eyes tend to focus on an object other than the instrument. (unless I’m making a huge jump on a guitar neck maybe).
i might focus on watching a hand when I’m concentrating on technique or efficiency, but I mostly play by ear; not sight. I find that looking at my hands when on fiddle actually will mess me up quite often…i can do things by ear that I can’t tear apart or follow visually.
also, the higher the tempo the less I comprehend visually.
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I could not agree more. I’ve never had a radio at work, but always had great selection music available at the touch of a thought.
I happen to be “listening” to Kenny Baker playing Andy’s Tune as I type this…
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I have the first three volumes of my CAGED system available as ebooks at https://www.lulu.com/search?page=1&q=paige+garwood&pageSize=10&adult_audience_rating=00
I am a HUGE proponent of the CAGED system as I am a visually based learner and the basic shapes guide me up and down the neck.
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I was listening to Ben’s POV nine pound hammer guitar yesterday and exactly these thoughts ran into my mind and I listened to it more than a few times. Now that I see this post, it is assuring!
I think CAGED is prerequisite to apply what you have listened to into appropriate fret/notes.
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I really like and recommend @Mr_G’s CAGED books. They’re so well laid out with some great tab!
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