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The basics | Week 1

Hi all :)

Edit: Thanks so much for all the great advice and encouragement, it's awesome!

I joined here 5 days ago and this is my progress so far
The fastest I can play the chromatic scale is 45bpm at the moment.

Question about the chromatic scale...
The video in the beginners' section says that, when ascending, you need to read all the accidentals as sharps and descending all the accidentals as flats (for example: D, D#, E, F, F# G and then descending G, G flat, F, E, E flat, D and so on. )
I am not quite in that habit yet.. I already play an instrument and came into the habit of just calling G flat F# for example because it's the same note.. is this a problem?
Click to expand...
Reactions: Fahol, Dominik Gräber, Calvin Phillips and 3 others
Honestly as long as you know that its referred to as both depending on context, you’re fine. But im just curious, do you have any picks? Might be a good idea to start unless you have no desire to! Doing great though!
 
Reactions: MayEmton and Dominik Gräber
Hey there, and welcome! This is a good start, especially using the metronome as this is a great habit to get into, so definitely keep it up! To answer your question, I think the video suggests to read the notes this way to help you familiarise yourself with the two different names the notes can go by. It's good to remember both names for the same note since they will be notated differently depending on what you're playing (So, a piece may call it a F#, but it's still the same note as the G flat). Hopefully this makes sense and is helpful!
 
Reactions: MayEmton and Alicia Willis
Wow ! This is awesome ! 5 day’s ?!?! Girl, I’m seriously impressed with how well you’re hitting notes. I personally could not do that that soon without major screw ups ! Hahah you’re off to an awesome start.

I have a question though, I noticed you are not using a pick and was curious as to why.
I know I’ve randomly picked up my guitar and tried to play without one and it’s hella hard unless doing some finger style picking On chords. (At least for me anyways)
I was just curious
 
Reactions: MayEmton
Hey Kye! This is really cool! And only after 5 days.

In regards to your question about sharps and flats...at this moment in time it doesnt really matter if you call it a G# or an Ab for example. This is known as an enharmonic equivalent, where they both sound like the same notes however in theory they are different. I wouldnt worry so much about that as of yet. It would only matter when you start looking at scales (other than a chromatic one), as the structure of a scale require certain accidentals as part of its formation.

You've played this scale very well! The notes are coming through quite clean, and you can certainly hear that this is a chromatic scale of some sort. Really impressed that you are sticking to that metronome too. Keep up with it!

I must ask, do you have any picks yet? It's really good to get into the habit of using one. It might feel strange at first, but playing scales is really great to get used to picking. I'd also maybe suggest trying this shape a little higher up the fretboard. What you wanna try and do is position your fingers closer to the frets in order to get a nicer sound. If you find this a bit of a stretch then play it higher up the fretboard!

Hope this helps!
 
Reactions: MayEmton
Awesome! That's so great seeing already a progress video from you. Good job. I think regarding your question everything has already been said in the previous comments
 
Reactions: MayEmton
Jesse Salmons said:
Honestly as long as you know that its referred to as both depending on context, you’re fine. But im just curious, do you have any picks? Might be a good idea to start unless you have no desire to! Doing great though!
Click to expand...
Hey
Sadly I don't own any picks. I only realized I forgot to buy one once it was too late. My country went on lockdown 27 March already
 
Okay I understand, thanks!
 
Thanks so much for the compliment I sadly did not get around to buying a pick. Once I realized I forgot lockdown had already started so it was too late
 
Reactions: Alicia Willis
Hey, thank you for responding and thanks for the advice! Yeah, I get the importance of metronomes and it's really necessary to use one from the start.. otherwise it's all going to be uneven and at different speeds (I have the tendency to speed up on parts I know and slow down on the more difficult parts) and it just sounds sloppy.

Sadly I don't own a pick. Lockdown in my country had already started when I realized I forgot to get one. We've been unable to leave the house for unessential travel and most businesses have been closed for almost a month.
 

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