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Lesson 2 - 4 Ways To Know Your Pitch Patterns — Transcript

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0:01hi folks hope you're enjoying and
0:03benefiting from our guitar lesson series
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1:31hi welcome back to absolutely understand
1:34guitar I'm Scotty West today we delve
1:37further into the fascinating world of
1:39pitch you're all interested in learning
1:41about scales and chords well these are
1:43just patterns of notes patterns of pitch
1:46but first we're going to get just a
1:48little bit scientific about pitch in
1:50order to begin to see how the guitar
1:51actually works this is lesson two so
1:54make sure your booklet is open to page
1:56two all set here we go
2:00hi welcome back got a lot of stuff to
2:02cover uh this week uh amazing stuff
2:05um remember last week we are your very
2:07first lesson we actually learned that
2:09music is a language and it has six parts
2:12of speech these are the six main areas
2:14of Music Pitch Rhythm camber Dynamics
2:17technique and notation well in order to
2:20be a real player you got to make sure
2:22that you can answer yes to those six
2:24different questions over there A lot of
2:25people are only fooling themselves into
2:27believing that they're playing music you
2:29can look back at tape number one and
2:30memorize all that stuff we got too much
2:32to talk about today to really do much of
2:34a review I just wanted to remind you
2:36that the largest body of information
2:37that you have to learn about in music is
2:39this stuff about Pitch what is pitch
2:41about well remember as most of you know
2:43pitch is about high and low but high and
2:45low what well the first word we learned
2:47to associate with pitch is it's all
2:49about what notes you play and
2:52um we take these notes and we arrange
2:54them in various patterns and that's what
2:57chords and scales and Melody and Harmony
2:59and intervals and progressions and
3:01arpeggios all the very things you want
3:03to learn about that's all about pitch
3:05and that's the stuff that we're going to
3:06be talking about today okay let's flip
3:08the page here and the first thing we're
3:10going to do with pitch is we're going to
3:11get just a little bit scientific about
3:13it so what do we know about Pitch so far
3:16well we know that pitch
3:19is about
3:22High
3:23and low
3:27but high and low what well the first
3:30word as I said that we learned to
3:31associate with pitches is all about what
3:33notes you play
3:35but the other big word that you want to
3:37learn to associate with pitch is the
3:39whole concept of frequency
3:42this is the scientific word for what
3:45pitch is all about now some of you might
3:48remember a little bit of this from
3:49science class at one time or another you
3:52know about sound waves and you know that
3:55everything that's making noise is
3:56vibrating and it's sending out waves
3:58through the atmosphere well
4:01um in a sense that's all your guitar
4:03basically is it's just a sound wave
4:06generator it just generates sound waves
4:08and you can very specifically control
4:11the frequency and what is the frequency
4:12of the sound wave well you know that
4:14everything that's making noise is
4:16vibrating and it's sending out waves
4:18through through the atmosphere and so
4:20let's say that we're we don't have to
4:23look at the keyboard here let's say
4:25um I play this note on a piano keyboard
4:27This is a low pitch node isn't it
4:30and let's say we could actually see what
4:33sound waves look like there is a device
4:34called an oscilloscope that's kind of
4:36like a computer screen and you could
4:37look and you can see what this sound
4:38wave looked like so I play this low note
4:40on the piano here and we look and we see
4:43a sound wave that goes by and it's
4:44looking like this
4:47and this sound wave is traveling in a
4:49specific Direction let's say it's
4:50traveling in this direction right like
4:52this now what they'll tell you the
4:54frequency of the sound wave is is the
4:57number of wave Peaks why the Peaks well
5:00it's just a convenient place to measure
5:01from but it's the number of wave Peaks
5:04that pass a fixed point
5:07in a certain amount of time and maybe
5:09that fixed point is your ear so let's
5:11say there's your ear right there and the
5:13sound wave is entering your ear
5:14frequency is the number of waves that
5:17enter your ear in a certain amount of
5:19time usually measured in cycles per
5:23second or in units called Hertz now at
5:27one moment we're hearing this low pitch
5:28note like this
5:31and we see a sound wave that looks like
5:33this
5:34now the next moment let's say I play a
5:36high pitch note up here on the keyboard
5:39that's a high pitch note isn't it we
5:41look back at the oscilloscope again and
5:42we see a sound wave going by that looks
5:44like this
5:48now obviously these wave Peaks are much
5:51closer together than these are looks
5:53like it's somewhere in the vicinity of
5:54about ten to one here now so what that
5:57means is a lot more of these sound waves
5:59are going to bump into your eardrum in a
6:01second than these are up here so this
6:03would be considered low frequency
6:06and this is high frequency
6:09and low frequency means low pitch and
6:13high frequency means high pitch so it's
6:16all about how far apart the waves are
6:18from one another that determines the
6:20frequency of the sound
6:22well as we said really you know we keep
6:25calling the guitar the dumb machine and
6:27we're going to be covering how it works
6:28in the next lesson but you know now it's
6:30time for us to actually understand what
6:32kind of a machine it is a a musical
6:34instrument is nothing more than a sound
6:36wave generator and and all it meant to
6:38do is is generate these sound waves not
6:40only that it generates sound waves a
6:42very precise and controllable
6:44frequencies but how does it do that well
6:47different instruments do it in different
6:48ways but you're here to learn about the
6:50guitar which is a stringed instrument
6:51what that means is you've got a piece of
6:54wire stretched between two points and
6:57what you do is you pluck that wire and
7:00you cause it to vibrate back and forth
7:03like that those are the vibrations of
7:05the string well
7:10string goes back and forth is what puts
7:12the wave Peaks where they are so the
7:15speed of the vibration of the string is
7:18what controls the frequency if that
7:20string is wobbling back and forth fairly
7:22slowly it tends to send out waves that
7:25are further apart but if that string is
7:28vibrating back and forth at a million
7:29miles an hour it sends out waves that
7:32are closer together like that so for our
7:34basic lay purposes just to understand
7:36how the Guitar Works pitch is about
7:39frequency which is all about the speed
7:42of vibration of the string it's the
7:46speed of the vibration
7:50of the string that determines the
7:52frequency of the note
7:54but what we said was you can actually
7:56control the frequency you can control
7:58the pitch you can control the vibrating
8:00speed of the string on a guitar how do
8:02you do that well we humans control the
8:05speed of vibration in stringed
8:07instruments using three different
8:08factors the first factor is the mass
8:13of the string
8:18that's why if you look at your guitar
8:20strings they aren't all the same
8:21thickness are they if you've put your
8:23strings on properly which is very
8:25important
8:26um you you'll notice that the uh the low
8:28pitch strings are thicker than the high
8:31pitched strings are so therefore they're
8:33going to vibrate slower and send out
8:35waves that are further apart that's so
8:37when you put your strings on your guitar
8:39you got to make sure you put them on in
8:40the right order and there's stuff to
8:41know about string gauge and stuff like
8:42that we can't go into that right now now
8:45that's Factor number one what's the
8:46second factor that we use to control the
8:48vibrating speed of the string it is the
8:51tension
8:52that you stretch the string too
8:55so that's why you've got your tuning
8:58machines on your guitar up there these
9:00are these things that you tighten and
9:02loosen the strings with and that's what
9:03tuning the guitar is all about
9:06just a quick word about tuning too if I
9:09haven't mentioned this before the best
9:10way and really the only way that you're
9:12going to want to think about tuning your
9:14guitar is get yourself an electronic
9:16tuner and my recommendation is get
9:18yourself an electronic Chromatic tuner
9:21an autochromatic tuner and uh we'll be
9:24talking about this later in the program
9:25but that's really the only way that
9:27you're going to want to try to tune your
9:28guitar tuning the guitar by ear is just
9:31too difficult for beginners and you will
9:32waste too much time and and and not get
9:35the result you want anyway so get
9:37yourself an electronic Chromatic tuner
9:39and be done with it right there so
9:41that's what tuning is that's the second
9:42way that we adjust the vibrating speed
9:44of the string is by tightening or
9:46loosening them to certain shall we say
9:48culturally agreed upon pre-prescribed
9:51vibrating speeds and that's what tuning
9:53your instrument is but really it's
9:55Factor number three down here that's
9:57really the big one when it comes to
9:59actually playing songs on your
10:01instrument the Third Way That We
10:03manipulate the vibrating speed of the
10:05string is by controlling the length
10:08of the string and people go huh wait a
10:12minute how does that work well I'll show
10:13you on my guitar here
10:15um it's Moment by moment it's the length
10:17of the string how do you actually play
10:20different notes on a guitar well what
10:23you do is you move your fingers around
10:25on the neck of the guitar on these
10:27things called frets
10:29[Music]
10:31I'm moving my fingers around up here
10:36what am I doing when I do that well I'm
10:39changing the length of the string if I
10:42pluck my low E string here with none of
10:44my fingers on the neck at all it's
10:46vibrating along its entire length from
10:48where it connects to the instrument up
10:49here to where it connects to the
10:51instrument down here at the bridge it's
10:53vibrating along its entire length but if
10:55I were to put my finger say here on the
10:57neck of the guitar
10:58I'm forcing the string against that
11:01piece of wire right there that's called
11:03a fret right there as you probably
11:04already know I'm forcing the string
11:06against that piece of wire and I'm
11:08stopping the vibration of the string at
11:10that point so that means this part of
11:12the string up here isn't doing anything
11:14anymore I've shortened the length of the
11:17string it's no longer this long it's
11:19only this long and the further I move my
11:23hand up the neck the shorter I'm making
11:25the string well the shorter the string
11:28is the faster it vibrates the closer
11:32together that the waves are that it
11:34sends out and we humans have this
11:36experience of the pitch getting higher
11:40see I just am continually making the
11:42string shorter and shorter and therefore
11:45the pitch is getting higher and higher
11:46that's how you actually manipulate pitch
11:49to actually play songs on your
11:51instrument so the three factors involved
11:55in controlling pitch on stringed
11:57instruments is the thickness of the
11:59string how tightly they're stretched but
12:02most notably the length of the string
12:04and that's what fretting is so when
12:05you're moving your fingers around on
12:07your Frets okay that's basically all
12:09that you have to know about the science
12:11of pitch in order to understand how your
12:13Guitar Works the next big question that
12:15we're going to ask ourselves is
12:16a huge question I love to get people to
12:19understand this question so many people
12:21have misconceptions about this if you
12:23don't understand about this you don't
12:25really you're not going to get anything
12:26really about music I know they explain
12:28this different ways different places but
12:30you got to trust me this is really
12:32particularly as you go through this
12:34program you're going to see this is
12:35where you're really going to see how
12:36pitch Works in music so this is our
12:39first we just talked about the science
12:41of pitch this is our first big thing on
12:44the actual Aesthetics of pitch and
12:46Aesthetics what does that mean that's
12:47that's the Artful usage of something
12:49it's about how we use something in an
12:51art form
12:52um
12:53so this is the first real aesthetic
12:55question about how pitch Works how we
12:57use these pitches in the art form that
12:59we call music and it goes like this
13:01you know that music is a language right
13:03and like any language music has an
13:06alphabet and long before they can teach
13:08you how to use anything in in a language
13:10at all they have to teach you how the
13:12alphabet works and the first thing that
13:14you need to understand about that
13:15alphabet is how many basic units there
13:17are in it for example you know that in
13:19the English language you have an
13:20alphabet that consists of 26 units and
13:23to form all these different words and
13:25sentences and stuff like that you select
13:27units out of that 26 unit alphabet and
13:30you arrange them in different patterns
13:31what do we call these patterns we call
13:33them words and you know that all the
13:36thousands and thousands of words that
13:37you know in the English language are all
13:39created out of this same basic 26 unit
13:41English alphabet well the same thing is
13:44going on in music music is a language
13:46and it has an alphabet as well and we
13:49would like to know how many units it has
13:51in it and the reason for that is is all
13:53the music you've ever heard from Bach to
13:56The Beatles to Bush and Back Again
13:57including don't tell let anybody tell
14:00you that like Indian Muse music or
14:02African music or Chinese music is like
14:04really that different from ours yes it
14:06is different yes it has some significant
14:08differences but the truth of the matter
14:10is the similar similarities far far
14:12outweigh the differences and
14:14so essentially all the music you've ever
14:17heard is constructed out of this same
14:19basic alphabet in music and you first
14:22question that you need to understand is
14:24how many units are there in that
14:26alphabet or in other words how many
14:29basic notes are there
14:32so many notes now you know that they
14:36repeat again in different octaves we'll
14:38be talking about what that means too but
14:40in the musical alphabet how many basic
14:43units are there take a moment even if
14:45you want to pause the machine even for a
14:46moment and think about it and I'll give
14:48you the answer
14:50well let me tell you let me start by
14:53telling you the most common wrong
14:54answers by far the most common wrong
14:56answer is eight and I go wrong and they
14:59go wrong what do you mean
15:03aren't there eight notes in music you
15:05know they taught us that pattern back in
15:07kindergarten didn't they give us that
15:08idea that everything was made out of
15:10those eight notes well the first problem
15:12with that is we repeated doe twice we
15:15began with dough and we ended with dough
15:17so we we repeated one of their notes so
15:19can't be eight second most common answer
15:21then is people go well then okay seven
15:23and I go wrong and they go wrong what do
15:26you mean a b c d e f g
15:31seven nobody's heard of an H or an i or
15:33a j or a k no it's it always seems to
15:36just go up to G's a b c d e f g seven
15:39what's wrong with that well I go the
15:41problem with that is a through G
15:44those are just the white keys on the
15:47piano
15:48what about the Black Keys up here and
15:50people go well those are the sharps and
15:52flats right and I go yeah and they go
15:53well I was kind of given the impression
15:55that the sharps and flats are somehow
15:57different than the white keys on the
15:58piano and I go I know why you think that
16:00because that's kind of the dumb way they
16:02usually try to teach music but in the
16:04end nothing could be further from the
16:05truth you're going to find out that the
16:07Black Keys are just as common just as
16:09important and do not reflect any
16:12different kind of phenomenon than the
16:13white keys do
16:15people go but wait a minute that's a and
16:17that's a sharp right there isn't a like
16:19the real node and a sharp is like the
16:21some weird modification of that and I go
16:23no actually nothing could be further
16:25from the truth and the only thing that
16:26ever made us think there was some kind
16:28of hierarchy there is a kind of a
16:30strange system that they created over
16:32the centuries to assign names to these
16:34notes but in the end they just decided
16:37to call that a and they just decided to
16:38call it a sharp by the way people go
16:40well then why did they color code it
16:41like that why if all the notes are
16:43equally important why didn't they just
16:45make them all the same color where did
16:46this black and white color coding system
16:48come from and I go it really doesn't
16:50have much to do cosmically with music it
16:52really just has more to do with human
16:54visual perception I can look I can
16:56practically look at the ceiling and go
16:57okay I'm going to play an A and I swivel
16:59around and I can go right to that note
17:01like immediately because I have
17:03memorized that for example a is just to
17:05the right of Center in the group of
17:07three black keys so really it's just a
17:09convenience for your eye to see where
17:11you are and it's left everybody with
17:13this impression that The Black Keys are
17:15different than the white keys and they
17:16aren't
17:17um and some people go but wait a minute
17:19I took piano lessons for a while and and
17:21all we ever did was play the white keys
17:23and my question then to people is well
17:25how long did you take piano lessons for
17:26and they go ah a couple of weeks couple
17:27of months a year or so I go we'll see
17:29that's it if you'd stuck with it longer
17:31gradually they would have just uh
17:34included more and more of the Black Keys
17:35until you just found out that that you
17:38use the Black Keys just as much of the
17:39white keys now I know you're here to
17:40create guitar lessons here I am showing
17:42you the keyboard again but remember
17:43remember this does exactly basically
17:46exactly the same thing that your guitar
17:47does and sometimes it's just easier to
17:50see music theories on the keyboard and
17:52then we're going to translate them as we
17:54go uh into uh onto the guitar
17:57so what is the answer how many notes are
18:00there in the system of pitch that we use
18:01in the western world uh to play music
18:04well the answer is seven white keys and
18:07five Black Keys there's a group of Two
18:09and a group of three before they begin
18:10to repeat seven white keys five Black
18:14Keys the answer is twelve
18:17there is 12 notes in our pitch system
18:19and that's going to come as a surprise
18:21to a lot of you but trust me you got to
18:23believe what I'm talking about and you
18:25want to think of this as your alphabet
18:27in the language of music
18:31you will never really understand music
18:33at least in any kind of modern context
18:35at all if you don't look at music that
18:36way it's a language it has an alphabet
18:39and that alphabet has 12 units in it and
18:42then all we do is Select units out of
18:45that alphabet and form them into
18:46different patterns and type them if you
18:49will on our typewriter over here
18:50remember our analogy of music is a
18:52language then a guitar is just something
18:54like a typewriter and that's what all
18:55your various finger patterns are about
18:57and so in the English language if we
19:00selected those units and put them in
19:02patterns we would call those patterns
19:03words wouldn't we and remember there's
19:04all different types of words there's
19:06nouns and verbs and adjectives and
19:08pronouns and prepositions and all this
19:10kind of stuff like this well in music we
19:12have our 12 unit alphabet we select
19:14units out of it and form them into
19:15patterns but we don't call them words we
19:17call them things like chords and scales
19:20and Melody and Harmony and stuff like
19:22that and that's what so much of this
19:24program is going to be about is learning
19:26how to create these patterns and I might
19:28have said last week that there's about
19:3050 basic patterns 50 different words in
19:33the musical language that you have to
19:35understand something about and that's
19:36what this most of this whole program is
19:38all about
19:39so there you go huge things about Pitch
19:41the physics of pitch and the first
19:44aesthetic question how does it work as
19:46an art form you have 12 notes in your
19:48alphabet okay now this stuff that we're
19:51going to cover right now I always say I
19:54think this is the most important stuff
19:56that you're ever going to learn from
19:57anybody on the subject of Music in some
19:59ways this is the most important part of
20:01this entire program what we're going to
20:02talk about now and once again it's about
20:05Pitch
20:08and what do we know about Pitch so far
20:10well we know for example that we have 12
20:15notes
20:16and we're going to kind of think of this
20:18as our alphabet
20:21in the language of music and over the
20:23next few hours I've got to teach you how
20:26to form like 50 different patterns
20:33out of these uh out of this 12 note
20:35alphabet and these patterns are very
20:37much kind of like the words
20:40in the language
20:42and they have Spellings out of this 12
20:45unit alphabet as I mentioned before when
20:47you're moving your fingers around on
20:48your guitar you're typing these words
20:50out of this 12 known alphabet down there
20:52so you've got to learn these 50 patterns
20:56just to control any language you got to
20:57have a vocabulary in the language you've
20:59got to learn these 50 different patterns
21:01if you're interested in how these 50
21:03break down by the way I didn't quite
21:05Leave myself enough room to write this
21:07up here here it is here's how the number
21:0850 breaks down there are three big
21:12categories of intervals that you have to
21:14know about chords which I'm sure you've
21:16heard about scales which I'm sure you've
21:18heard about and intervals interestingly
21:20enough is the third one a lot of people
21:22haven't heard of those which is kind of
21:23strange again because if you don't
21:25understand intervals you'll never really
21:26understand scales and chords
21:28um and the number 50 breaks down
21:30something like this you have 13
21:32different intervals that you have to
21:33learn
21:3414 different scales that you have to
21:36learn and somewhere in the vicinity of
21:38about 20 different chords that you have
21:40to learn to play popular music remember
21:41that's the promise I make everyone
21:43around here we're not going to stuff
21:44your head with full of a bunch of dumb
21:46junk that you don't need to know this is
21:48just about pop music about that's what
21:50most of you are interested in if you
21:51wanted to play classical music or Jazz
21:53the more complex styles of music you
21:55would have to know all this stuff
21:56anywhere anyway but for example then
21:58that number 50 I'd say about have to
22:00Triple that to play any style of music
22:02you you have to know about 150 different
22:05patterns but and we're going to look at
22:07a lot of those just basically but there
22:09is a core group of these 50 different
22:11patterns that you have to know in order
22:12to get yourself started in order to
22:14understand basic popular music
22:16so you've got to learn these 50
22:18different patterns but and here's the
22:21big stuff coming right now
22:22one thing you've got to understand is
22:24each one of these patterns exists like
22:27simultaneously in like four different
22:30dimensions each one of these patterns
22:33has four different aspects four
22:35different faces and you need to learn to
22:37recognize it no matter which of its four
22:39faces it shows you
22:41um so what I always say is there are
22:44four ways
22:47to know
22:52each pitch pattern and this is a hugely
22:56misunderstood thing in music but this
22:59will if you understand this this will
23:01set the tone for the whole rest of your
23:03musical career this in a sense is all
23:06you have to do you've got to learn these
23:0950 different patterns and you have to
23:10learn each one four different ways you
23:12want to know the really cool thing about
23:14this is once again this is not weird
23:17abstract alien information that you
23:19don't know anything about because I'm
23:21going to suggest that you know every
23:23single one of your patterns in the
23:25English language the same four ways this
23:28is not just specific to music this is
23:31how you use your words in any language
23:34and if you look at it that way this will
23:36help you understand music because you
23:38can look at music exactly the way you
23:40look at any any language you speak and
23:42mostly we're talking about English here
23:44aren't we
23:45um
23:46um you know every word in the English
23:48language these same four ways and if you
23:50visualize it that way it'll help you
23:51kind of understand how music works and
23:53and you'll be able to really just zip
23:55through this stuff and really understand
23:56what I'm talking about now most of our
23:59friends only know their patterns like
24:01one way which I'm going to suggest is
24:02kind of like completely a dead end and
24:05if they know their patterns at all it's
24:07usually this way down here number four
24:09but we're going to start up at the top
24:11here this is kind of the linchpin uh all
24:13the other ones will start to work if you
24:15basically understand this one up here
24:16and here we go this might be the most
24:19important stuff you ever learn about
24:20music you have to know each pattern four
24:22ways think of any word you know in the
24:24English language and I'm going to
24:26suggest that the first way that you know
24:28any word in any language is you have it
24:31in your mind you are able to think
24:35in the language isn't that true
24:39the only way that I'm able to speak to
24:41you right now is because I already have
24:43all these words in my mind right these
24:46words aren't just flying out of my mouth
24:47I'm constructing these sentences in my
24:50head and then I am speaking them you
24:52have to have the language in your mind
24:54first before you can do anything with it
24:56right now in a musical context let's say
24:59this then the first way you have to know
25:01your chords and your scales and your
25:03intervals is you have to have them in
25:04your mind remember my great quote is you
25:06don't play the guitar with your fingers
25:07you play it with your head you play it
25:09with your mind the finger stuff is just
25:12the typing stuff so the first way that
25:14you need to understand your pitch
25:16patterns is you need to understand them
25:18as Concepts that's the first way you
25:22have to be able to think in the language
25:24you have to know your pitch patterns as
25:26Concepts this is the whole world of
25:30Music Theory
25:33now this is a word that strikes Terror
25:36in a lot of people's hearts they've
25:38tried to take music theory classes at
25:40school they've tried to read books and
25:42they oh my God this stuff is really
25:44confusing and complicated and it just
25:46isn't it's just music as you're going to
25:48hear me say is the worst taught subject
25:49of all times are you having any trouble
25:51understanding what I'm saying so far in
25:53lesson number one and in this lesson I
25:55hope not if you're not then you're
25:57probably not going to have any problem
25:58with any of this it doesn't get any
26:00harder than this it's just usually they
26:02explain music in the wrong order that's
26:04I think what I've figured out and
26:05hopefully I'm giving it to you in the
26:07right order now nonetheless a lot of
26:09people try to avoid learning their music
26:11theory because this is the part that's a
26:13little bit like school you know and I
26:15mean you're gonna have to spend some
26:17time and it's not necessarily going to
26:19be the most fun part of your career
26:21you're going to have to spend some time
26:22and you're gonna have to memorize some
26:25stuff that's very much like spelling
26:29and vocabulary and stuff like that
26:33people go oh no am I really going to
26:34have to do this and the answer is yes if
26:36you want to satisfy yourself you're just
26:39going to have to do a little bit of work
26:40remember it's only 50 lousy words the
26:42alphabet only has 12 units in it what's
26:45the big deal you know what I mean if you
26:47just resign yourself to doing a little
26:48bit of school type work the benefits
26:50will be there now long before they could
26:53teach you any words in a language they
26:55have to make sure that you know the
26:57alphabet so the first thing that you've
26:59got to do in any language is you have to
27:01make sure that you know the alphabet
27:06so let's check in with that for a moment
27:09you know now that the musical alphabet
27:12has 12 units in it what are those units
27:15called a lot of you probably have a lot
27:17of kind of confusion about that too
27:19let's get that nailed down once and for
27:21all now here's 13 little boxes that I
27:24made up along the top here you're going
27:26to see now you know there's 12 notes
27:27you'll see in a moment why I made 13
27:28boxes we humans have come up with
27:31several different sensor systems over
27:33the centuries to assign names to these
27:3512 units in our pitch system we're going
27:37to talk about several of these as we go
27:39on but the only one we're going to talk
27:40about for today is the one that you
27:43probably know a little bit about already
27:44it's Loosely based on the English
27:46language
27:47um you know each of the 26 units in the
27:50English alphabet has a name right and as
27:53you know the first unit in the English
27:55alphabet is a
27:57and so it is in the musical alphabet as
28:00well now if we can look up over here at
28:03this other end what's the name of this
28:0513th note up here remember there's 12
28:08units but this is the 13th note this is
28:10also a
28:11that's where it starts over again at
28:14that point you know there's more than 12
28:15keys on a piano you're going to find out
28:17the guitar plays more than 12 notes
28:19remember these 12 notes repeat in
28:21different
28:21octaves and and what do you call this
28:24distance between one note that has a
28:27particular Alphabet letter like a and
28:28and then you jump over the other 11
28:30notes and you land on the 13th note up
28:32here that has the same Alphabet letter
28:34as the one you started on what is that
28:35distance called that is what is called
28:38an octave
28:42you've heard that word before but you
28:43might not have exactly known what it is
28:45an octave is a particular interval by
28:47the way it's the distance between the
28:49first node and the 13th note up there
28:51it's uh from one a to the next or from
28:54One D to the next higher D than that
28:56that's what we know is an octave now let
28:58me ask you this what's the name of the
29:00very next note higher in Pitch than a
29:04it's not B interestingly enough B is
29:07actually right here
29:09there's another note in between a and b
29:11and one way we can see that is by
29:13looking up here at the piano keyboard
29:14here's a on a piano keyboard and a is
29:18always the note that is just to the
29:20right of Center in the group of three
29:23Black Keys there's the three black keys
29:25right there and you'll notice just to
29:27the right of Center is a right there
29:29well here's B right here but notice in
29:33between A and B is one of these Black
29:35Keys this is one of those sharp and flat
29:38notes
29:39um now do you know what the words sharp
29:42and flat mean a lot of people are
29:44confused about this it's very very
29:45simple what do the words sharp and
29:47flattening they're just very old words
29:50they evolved in some other culture I
29:52really don't know where they came from
29:53they don't mean the same things to us
29:55that they mean that they meant to the
29:57culture they originally evolved in they
30:00are simply I kind of compare them to
30:02like port and starboard on a boat you
30:04know these are old words that sailors
30:06use to talk about left and right you
30:07know port and starboard you know what
30:09I'm talking about they don't mean the
30:10same thing to us anymore well the words
30:12sharp and flat are just like that in the
30:14musical language
30:16um they just tell you what direction to
30:18go in
30:20now what directions do you go in in
30:22Pitch
30:23up and down right high and low up and
30:27down that's all these two words mean
30:29sharp which has a symbol like a pound
30:33sign which you've seen before simply
30:36means higher in Pitch that's all it
30:40means a lot of people think it has some
30:42magical meaning it doesn't a sharp just
30:44means higher in pitch and flat
30:47which has a symbol like a lowercase b
30:49like that simply means lower in Pitch
30:55so if we can take a look back up here
30:57again here's a in our musical alphabet
30:59and here's B these were both white keys
31:02on the piano in between there was this
31:03black key in between A and B there was
31:06this black key up there what's the name
31:09of that note well sometimes it's more
31:11convenient to think of that as the next
31:13note higher than a so we call it a sharp
31:16but what a lot of people don't
31:17understand is in an equal number of
31:19contexts it's more convenient to think
31:21of that as the next note lower than b so
31:24we call it B flat
31:27a sharp and B flat are exactly the same
31:30note for all intents and purposes there
31:32are some tiny little times that you're
31:34going to find out about later on where
31:35that's not strictly true but this is the
31:37way you want to look at it for now a
31:38sharp and B flat are two names for the
31:41same note and when do you call it a
31:43sharp and when do you call it B flat
31:45I'll tell you about that later on
31:47um uh we don't have time to talk about
31:49that right now for now it doesn't matter
31:51what you call it just remember that a
31:53sharp and B flat are the same note
31:56um now it gets even stranger here's B
31:58right what's the name of the next note
32:00higher than b and people go well based
32:03on that wouldn't it be like B sharp or C
32:05flat and I go you would think so
32:07wouldn't you but interestingly enough it
32:09doesn't work that way again look at the
32:10piano keyboard up here here's a here's a
32:14sharp B flat here's B look what happens
32:16next there's two white keys in a row
32:19there is no black key in between B and
32:22the next note so interestingly enough
32:24the very next note higher in Pitch than
32:27b is C there is no sharp and flat note
32:31in between B and C people go wow this is
32:34weird I go well yeah a little bit it's
32:37going to take a little bit of getting
32:38used to uh some of you have tried to
32:40learn about this stuff before and didn't
32:42quite see how it works and you're
32:43confused
32:44um hopefully I'm showing you this in a
32:46way that you just won't be confused
32:47about it and anymore another thing to
32:49understand is you know what this means
32:51as musical pitches A and B are not the
32:54same distance apart that B and C are B
32:58and C are only half as far apart As A
33:00and B are remember each all of the notes
33:02in our 12 note pitch system are all the
33:05same distance apart from the ones on
33:06either side of them it's an interval by
33:08the way called a half step you might
33:13have heard of that before a half step is
33:16when you go from one note say to the
33:18note right next to it it doesn't matter
33:19what color they are on a piano or what
33:21they're called that's always a half step
33:24B and C are only a half step apart in
33:27Pitch But A and B are what's called a
33:30whole step apart half steps and whole
33:34steps these are other examples of
33:36intervals and we're going to be talking
33:37about those intervals later on when we
33:40study the subject of intervals not all
33:42of the whole alphabet letter notes in
33:44the musical alphabet are the same
33:46distance apart and I've had people that
33:47have been confused about that for years
33:49B and C are only half as far apart As A
33:52and B are now what's the name of the
33:54next note higher than C well here's C on
33:57the piano right here we do have a black
33:59key after that what's the name of that
34:01note well it's a little bit higher than
34:02C so we call it C sharp
34:05but it's a little bit lower than d by
34:08the way which is your next node up there
34:09that's our next white key right there
34:11there's C and there's D in between is
34:13this note it's got two names sometimes
34:15it's better to think of it as the next
34:16note higher than C that's C sharp other
34:18times it's better to think of it as d
34:20flat
34:22C sharp and d flat are the same note now
34:25what's the next note after that after d
34:27we have another black key that of course
34:29would be D sharp or E flat
34:33now after D sharp E flat we have another
34:36white key that's e remember this is just
34:39going along right in alphabetical order
34:40isn't it now now it gets interesting
34:42again here's e on the piano but look
34:45what happens next there is a second
34:46place on the piano where there's no
34:49black key in between two white keys the
34:51very next note higher than e is actually
34:54F and remember all of this stuff is
34:57going on on your guitar neck too I know
34:59we're looking at the piano and you want
35:00to take guitar lessons but this is so
35:02much more linear to understand the
35:04concepts in music we best look at it at
35:07the uh on the keyboard first and next
35:09week we're going to be talking about how
35:10the guitar actually uh plays these 12
35:12notes after F there is another black key
35:15that would be of course F sharp or g
35:19flat two names for the same note after
35:22that black key there's another white key
35:24that of course would be G
35:27and then finally we have one more black
35:29key right there the middle black key and
35:31the group of three would be G sharp or a
35:35flat and there it is that's your 12th
35:38note right there and then you find
35:40yourself right back on a again
35:42and that's an octave higher than this
35:45other a down here that we originally
35:47started on down there
35:50they're in the same place just to the
35:51right of Center in the group of three
35:53Black Keys and how many notes are in
35:55between one two three four five six
35:57seven eight nine ten eleven twelve and
36:01then the 13th note and then you can go
36:02another octave in those alphabet letters
36:05and Sharps and flats would just go again
36:07up into another octave like that and
36:08higher and lower than that we're going
36:10to be talking about all this stuff more
36:11as we go on so there is your musical
36:13alphabet there you've got to make sure
36:14once and for all you get this down they
36:16are 12 notes and they're all a half step
36:20apart from one another as you go through
36:22them in a sequence they're always a half
36:24step apart b and c and e and f are not
36:27the same distance apart that for example
36:28f and g and G and a are those are whole
36:31steps G and a are a whole step apart
36:33because you've got that other note in
36:35between but E and F and B and C are only
36:37a half step apart you've got to memorize
36:39your musical alphabet the best way to do
36:41that I guess at least initially would be
36:43to uh to to remember that they all have
36:46Sharps and flats in between them except
36:49b and c and e and f so you sit there and
36:51you go b c e f b c e f b c e f do that a
36:55few times those are the places where
36:57there's no Sharps and flats you'll have
36:58your whole musical alphabet down so
37:01there remember now what we're talking
37:03about is the four ways to know your
37:05pitch patterns and the first way you
37:07have to know any word in any language is
37:08you have to have it in your head you've
37:10got to be able to think in the language
37:12you've got to understand your pitch
37:14patterns as Concepts that's the whole
37:16music theory stuff and in order to do
37:18that you got to make sure you know the
37:20alphabet first now doesn't that make
37:22sense and and a lot of this program
37:24we're going to be talking about music
37:25theory don't worry about it it's
37:27fascinating music theory is fascinating
37:29if it's presented the right way it's not
37:31the least bit boring remember there's
37:33four ways to know each pitch pattern
37:34though and that's only the first way the
37:37first way you have to know any word in
37:38any languages you have to be able to
37:40think it right now let's go on to number
37:42two what's the second way that you need
37:44to know any word in any language well
37:46the answer is you have to be able to
37:48recognize it when you see it represented
37:51by graphic symbols on a piece of paper
37:54in other words the second way that you
37:57have to know any word in any language is
37:59you have to be able to read it you have
38:02to be able to read in the language
38:06you know now not everybody knows how to
38:08read in the English language do they but
38:10it's an awfully tough way to conduct
38:12yourself in society if you don't know
38:14how to read some people can do it but
38:16it's certainly not the best way to go
38:18about it
38:19um in any language you've got to know
38:20how to read so if we put this in a
38:22musical context the second way you need
38:25to know your scales and your chords and
38:27all your pitch patterns and stuff is you
38:28need to understand them as notation
38:34you might also recall that notation is
38:37one of the six main areas of Music isn't
38:39it that we talked about last week
38:41um Pitch Rhythm camber Dynamics
38:43technique and notation you've got to
38:45know on some level how to read music how
38:47are you going to learn those uh uh songs
38:49you want to play from the song book if
38:51you don't know at least something about
38:53how to read music now later on in the
38:56program I believe it's lessons nine and
38:57ten we're going to be showing you about
38:58learning how about reading music there
39:01are several different styles of notation
39:03that we use for the guitar there's
39:04standard notation which many of you have
39:06come across before if you've taken other
39:08music lessons you also know something
39:11about tablature some of you uh who have
39:13already played for a while and stuff
39:15like that also those there's those
39:16little chord boxes and things like that
39:18that you know that you've seen where
39:21they put the little dots you know there
39:23to show you where to actually put your
39:24fingers many of you have seen these
39:27different styles of notation
39:29so
39:30um we are not going to really talk about
39:31reading music in this particular thing
39:33because I've got I got so little time
39:35here and we've got to go on to number
39:36three here because this is actually the
39:38big one but on some level you may know
39:41that a lot of rock and roll players do
39:42not know how to read standard notation
39:44on the guitar uh and so we're not going
39:47to force you to learn how to read
39:48standard notation in this program but
39:50certainly if you ever want to be one of
39:52the world's great guitar players if you
39:53want to play jazz or classical music
39:55you've got to learn how to read standard
39:56notation for the rest of us maybe uh
39:59tablature might be good enough
40:01um and and and and we'll be putting that
40:03more in perspective later on but anyway
40:05the second way that you need to know any
40:07word in any languages you have to
40:09recognize it when you see it on paper
40:11you have to be able to read at least on
40:13some level in the language now on to
40:16number three down here this is the big
40:19one and this I swear I think this is the
40:22most important stuff you're ever going
40:23to learn from anybody on the subject of
40:25music right here I hope they carved this
40:27on my Tombstone if I can get people to
40:29understand this I feel like I've done my
40:31job you got to think in the language you
40:33got to read in the language but isn't it
40:35true wouldn't you say that the most
40:37important way that you know any word in
40:40any language is you recognize it when
40:42you hear it you know what it sounds like
40:45third and probably most importantly you
40:48need to be able to hear in the language
40:51you need to be able to recognize what
40:54your different words sound like
40:57you can do exactly the same thing in
41:00music the third way I mean music is an
41:03audio art form isn't it isn't the most
41:05important thing about it how it sounds
41:08you know what I mean so we put this in a
41:11musical context the third way that you
41:14need to know your chords and your scales
41:16and your intervals is you need to know
41:17what they sound like you need to know
41:19them as patterns of real sound
41:25this of course is the whole world of
41:28playing by ear
41:31and everybody wants to play by ear don't
41:34they we all have friends that that claim
41:37to play by ear and stuff like that but
41:39what you're going to find out is there's
41:41two different ways to play by ear
41:42there's a smart way to play by ear and
41:45there's a not so smart way to play by
41:46ear and most of the people that you've
41:48ever met who play by ear play by ear the
41:52not so smart way and and I'll show you
41:54what that is you you walk up to the sky
41:56and he's playing this Pearl Jam song off
41:58the radio and you go wow that's that
41:59Pearl Jam song off the radio how did you
42:01learn that and he goes I figured it out
42:03by ear and wow we're impressed you
42:05figured that out by ear wow but there's
42:08a few things that guy isn't telling you
42:10first of all he's not telling you how
42:12long it took him to figure it out now
42:15for example it might have taken him
42:17hours or days or weeks to figure out
42:20that Pearl Jam song by ear because the
42:22way a lot of people play by ear is they
42:24kind of stumble around kind of trial and
42:27error on their instrument some people
42:29can actually get to a point where they
42:31can do that fairly well and figure out
42:33some reasonably complicated stuff but
42:35the way most people's play by ear is
42:36they just sort of stumble around on the
42:38instrument and hope for the best and
42:40might take them hours to figure out
42:42Pearl Jam I usually know how to play the
42:43whole song by the time the song's over
42:46three minutes five minutes I can figure
42:48out a Pearl Jam song might have taken
42:49this guy five hours or five days so the
42:52first thing that guy's not telling you
42:53is how long it took him to figure out by
42:55year the second thing he's not telling
42:57you is he tried to figure out 10 other
43:00songs this week and he didn't get
43:01anywhere with the other ten he's playing
43:03you that Pearl Jam song because that's
43:05the only one he had any success with
43:07there were 10 other songs that he they
43:09were just too hard he couldn't get a
43:11grasp he couldn't figure out how they
43:12worked and the third thing he's not
43:14telling you is there's a list of about
43:17500 other songs that he'd like to be
43:19able to play that he'd like to be able
43:21to figure out by ear but he wouldn't
43:22even try because he just knows he
43:24couldn't do it wouldn't he wouldn't even
43:26try they're too complicated yeah maybe
43:27he can figure out Pearl Jam but can you
43:29figure out more complicated bands like
43:31fish or like Dave Matthews or like
43:33Steely Dan or like or like Primus or
43:37King Crimson
43:38um you know it's easy to figure out
43:40certain styles of music but more complex
43:42styles of music a lot of people could
43:44never begin to play by ear if they play
43:46by ear that not so smart way
43:48so how would you like to be able to
43:50figure out anything just by listening to
43:53it a few times wouldn't that be cool
43:54well in order to do that you've got to
43:57learn to play by ear the smart way and
44:00that involves this concept right here
44:02all real musicians go through a program
44:05known as ear
44:09training
44:12ear training
44:15ever heard of it ever heard of ear
44:17training out of a hundred students a
44:19year that I have I can generally only
44:20count on about a half a dozen people
44:22having ever even heard of ear training
44:25yet alone no knowing what it actually is
44:28um those are the two most important
44:32words as far as I'm concerned that
44:34you're ever going to hear anybody say on
44:35the subject of music if you want to be a
44:37real musician you've got to get trained
44:39ears and what does that mean well what
44:41ear training is all about is about
44:43working out with a coach who already
44:45knows what these 50 different patterns
44:47sound like and you're given clues about
44:50what to listen for in order to get to
44:53the point where you can recognize what
44:54they actually sound like all of these 50
44:57patterns sound like something and they
44:59sound different from the other 49
45:02patterns as surely as the word cat
45:04sounds different than the word dog and
45:07with a certain amount of work you can
45:09get to the point where you know what all
45:11of your 50 patterns sound like and then
45:13it's not a matter of stumbling around
45:14trying to figure out what that song is
45:16this stuff comes out of the speaker and
45:18you're going oh I know that chord oh I
45:20know that scale oh I know that riff just
45:22like you're learning from me in the
45:24English language right now because I'm
45:25speaking to you right and you're going
45:27oh I know that word oh I know that word
45:29oh I know that word oh I know what this
45:31guy's trying to say imagine if you could
45:33do the same thing with music you put the
45:35disc in hit the play button oh I know
45:37that chord oh I know that and then the
45:40only thing finally that you have to know
45:42then is you have to know the finger
45:43pattern so that you can play that stuff
45:45yourself and let's do a quick segue in
45:48down here into the fourth way let's get
45:50this one out of the way we're going to
45:51come back and talk some more about ear
45:52training in a minute but just because of
45:54what I just said right there you've got
45:55to be able to think in the language
45:56you've got to be able to read in the
45:58language you've got to be able to hear
45:59in the language but finally the last
46:02thing is you have to be able to turn
46:03around and you have to be able to make
46:05that noise yourself don't you you have
46:07to be able to speak in the language and
46:11there it is the four ways to know your
46:13pitch patterns think them read them hear
46:15them speak them isn't that true you can
46:17do that with any word in the English
46:19language can't can't you over your
46:21course of your music career you've got
46:23to get better and better at doing your
46:25pitch patterns that your scales and your
46:26chords and everything these same four
46:27ways now you're going speak wait a
46:30minute I'm a guitar player what's that
46:31got to do speak what do you mean well um
46:34this is number four down here the fourth
46:36way that you have to know your patterns
46:38in any languages you have to be able to
46:39speak them now this one's a little
46:40abstract let me suggest that whenever
46:43you speak in a language you use some
46:46kind of machine like it might be this
46:49machine right there that's a machine
46:50isn't it and somebody had to teach you
46:52how to use that machine or maybe it's a
46:54a typewriter like we said before you use
46:56the typewriter to speak for you or maybe
46:58you use sign language and you know how
47:00to sign you use your hand as the machine
47:03to speak with well it's just in music we
47:06use one of these kinds of machines to
47:09speak with and particularly since you're
47:11here to learn how to play the guitar let
47:13me suggest that the way that you learn
47:16to make your machine speak for you is
47:20you learn how to manipulate the machine
47:22with your fingers
47:24the fourth way that you need to know
47:26your scales and your chords and
47:27everything is you have to know them as
47:29finger
47:31patterns
47:37and you know that's what an awful lot of
47:41people think that's all there is to
47:42playing the guitar is learning more and
47:44more of these different finger patterns
47:46that in many of you that that's the way
47:48that you've been doing it so far you've
47:49been buying these chord books and stuff
47:51and you've been learning where to put
47:52your fingers and all but that's really
47:54not where it's where it's at you know
47:56what I mean in the language that that's
47:58just like the typing part of the
48:00language you know but as we said before
48:01the typewriter doesn't write the book
48:03does it you write the book with the
48:05command of the language in your mind but
48:08then yes you've got to know about your
48:09fingers patterns too in order to make
48:11your machine speak for you you have a
48:13lot of practicing to do you're going to
48:14have plenty of exercises and scales and
48:17and stuff that you're going to need to
48:18learn how to play on your guitar that's
48:20the finger pattern stuff that's speaking
48:22in the language but let's go back up
48:23here we got to finish up our thoughts on
48:25this ear training remember I said this
48:26is the two most important words you'll
48:28ever hear me say most people have never
48:30even heard of ear training and that's so
48:32weird once again because you know like I
48:34say
48:35there's like real musicians and then
48:37there's people that are just kind of
48:38like pretend musicians um now I'm not
48:40saying you have to go to music school to
48:42be a real musician but it sure as heck
48:45doesn't doesn't it doesn't hurt and of
48:47course they go to Music School you've
48:48got to read and and the other thing that
48:50people don't understand is ear training
48:52most of us who have never even heard of
48:53ear training ear training is the second
48:56required course at Music School
48:59and and so funny that most people have
49:00never even heard of it ear training is
49:03the second required course at music
49:04school right behind music theory
49:06everybody seems to understand that
49:07they're going to go to music theory
49:08class and learn about those alphabet
49:10letters and those Sharps and flats and
49:11all the conceptual stuff about music
49:12what so few people understand is
49:14probably around 11 o'clock your theory
49:16course is going to be dismissed and
49:17you're going to go down to room 204 and
49:19that's going to be the ear training lab
49:21and you're going to spend several hours
49:23in there with your ear training coach
49:24now get yourself trained ears and here's
49:28all the amazing things that will open up
49:30for you first of all you will be able to
49:34listen learn
49:36that is any song you want to play you'll
49:39just be able to listen to it a few times
49:42and and you'll figure out how to play it
49:44now that's a skill that takes some time
49:46to acquire but but if you work at it
49:48you'll be able to do it the second thing
49:50you'll be able to do is you'll be able
49:51to compose music everybody wants to know
49:54how to write songs well the the best way
49:58there's there's people who don't really
50:00have trained ears although I shouldn't
50:01say that because everybody in this
50:02modern era has trained years to a
50:04certain degree because the mere Act of
50:06listening to music is actually a form of
50:09ear training um but if you ever really
50:12want to get to the point that you can uh
50:15compose your own music you really have
50:18to get your ears trained and we'll be
50:20talking about that more as the program
50:21goes on finally the third thing and one
50:24of the coolest things that you'll be
50:25able to do if you get trained years is
50:26you'll be able to improvise
50:28[Music]
50:30people go really and I go yeah that's
50:32almost completely where improvisation
50:34comes from and I'm going to show you
50:35that in just a second but before I do
50:37let me give you a couple little more
50:39examples of how ear training Works um
50:41ear training as I said is you work out
50:43with a coach who gives you clues about
50:47how to recognize what these different
50:48patterns sound like remember I said they
50:50all sound different from from one
50:51another just like the word cat sounds
50:53different than the word dog and I'll
50:55give you your first example of that
50:56right of right now so you can see what
50:57I'm talking about
50:59um you've got these 20 different chords
51:00that you have to learn and and you have
51:02to learn them four different ways think
51:03them read them hear them speak them you
51:05gotta learn what they sound like you've
51:06got to recognize them by ear here's your
51:08first little ear training clue there's a
51:10lot of different types of chords but I'm
51:12oversimplifying a bit but they all seem
51:13to fall into one category another
51:15there's all these old other there's all
51:17these chords over here that are called
51:18major chords some of you already know
51:20about this and there's these other
51:21chords over here that are called minor
51:23chords how do you tell by ear the
51:26difference between a major chord and a
51:28minor chord there's a lot of subtle
51:29things that you listen for more about
51:31the various notes that are in them in
51:32other words in in other things like that
51:34but one really cool thing to realize is
51:36that they just sound different and they
51:37make you feel differently
51:39here's your first clue for recognizing
51:41the difference between major chords and
51:42minor chords most people would agree
51:44that major chords sound happy
51:47and minor chords sound sad
51:51so what am I playing right now can you
51:53tell me is this a happy sounding major
51:54chord or a sad sounding minor chord
51:58take a second
51:59[Music]
52:02what do you think now a lot of you are
52:04going to have troubles first you're not
52:05going to necessarily be able to do this
52:06instantly that is a happy sounding major
52:09chord listen to it again
52:11now I'm going to turn it into a minor
52:13chord and notice how it sounds sad
52:18sad sounding minor chord there's the
52:22happy sounding major chord here's
52:23another one is this a happy sounding
52:24major chord or a sad sounding minor
52:26chord
52:29what do you think
52:31hopefully you said that that's a sad
52:33sounding minor chord and you'd be right
52:35now here's a major version of the same
52:38chord
52:39and happy music generally has more Happy
52:42chords in it
52:44and
52:50um sad music generally has more minor
52:52chords in it
52:52[Music]
52:58so there you go that's the difference
53:00between major chords and minor chords we
53:02said there are 20 chords that you have
53:03to learn the sounds of
53:05you got 18 more to go what's the big
53:07deal some chords sound like fear some
53:10chords sound like surprise some chords
53:12sound like uh uh ecstasy they sound even
53:15beyond happy and and I think that's the
53:17way I identify a lot of my chords is
53:19basically by how they make me feel
53:21and of course there are a lot of other
53:23tricks too ear training is a big process
53:25it takes a long time to get your ears
53:27trained and we'll be putting that in
53:28perspective more as we go on in the
53:30program another whole aspect of ear
53:32training is all about singing a good ear
53:35training coach makes you sing various
53:37patterns and various relationships the
53:39reason being that that the singing of
53:42the pattern is the only proof that
53:44anyone ever has that uh that that you
53:46actually know what these different
53:47patterns sound like I'll give you an
53:48example of that here's a note on the
53:50piano
53:51can you hum that note
53:53I can uh foreign
53:57[Music]
53:58that would prove to my ear training
54:00coach that I actually know what that
54:01note sounds like uh some of you are
54:04going to have trouble with that you know
54:05what I mean you may have to work at that
54:06for a little while in your your first
54:08couple of hours of your training now
54:09what the rest of your training is all
54:11about is your your training coach
54:13quizzes you on what different patterns
54:16sound like and the only way that he can
54:18tell whether you know what they sound
54:20like or not is is being able to sing
54:21them now for example we were talking a
54:23few minutes ago about an octave right
54:24that's when you go from one note in our
54:26pitch system up to the next one that has
54:28the same Alphabet letter up there well
54:30an octave is a pitch pattern that you're
54:32going to want to learn the sound of and
54:34the only way your ear training coach
54:36will know whether you know what an
54:37octave sounds like is if you can sing it
54:39now I play this first note here uh
54:43and he'll go to me uh okay you know what
54:45that note sounds like can you can you
54:47sing the note that is the next octave
54:49higher than that and here I go I'll sing
54:51the lower one first
54:53uh now here's the higher one uh
54:58uh
54:59uh
54:59now let's see if I'm right
55:01[Music]
55:03foreign
55:06he goes fine okay you know what an
55:08octave sounds like let's go work on some
55:10other pattern and eventually you work
55:11your way through all your 50 patterns
55:13and you convince your your training
55:15coach that you know what the stuff
55:17sounds like by being able to sing them
55:18for you for it and people go oh God
55:20that's going to be hard that's going to
55:21be embarrassing I go don't worry about
55:24it you know what I mean it's just
55:25something you gotta face up to and and
55:27ear training once you get in there it's
55:29you'll you'll see you'll start to go oh
55:31my God this is the whole thing if I
55:33could do this with music I can do
55:35anything I want I can figure out songs
55:38by listening to them I can write my own
55:40music and the last thing I want to show
55:41you about today is about improvising
55:43this is huge a lot of you are interested
55:45in styles of music like blues and jazz
55:48and rock and these styles of music all
55:52involve an element of improvisation you
55:54uh some I'm surprised about how many
55:56people don't know that but particularly
55:58in styles of popular music like Blues
56:00you know when that guy gets up there and
56:02plays that guitar solo in the middle of
56:03the song You Know oh right that that he
56:06doesn't play it the same way every night
56:07he plays it differently each night and
56:10that is one of the most fun things I
56:12know a lot of you already know about
56:13this and want to be able to improvise
56:15this is what jamming is all about you go
56:17over to your friend's house and and
56:18you're you're making up the music right
56:20on the spot that's what improvising is
56:21all about
56:22how do you improvise you improvise by
56:25having trained ears a lot of people
56:26don't understand that they think that
56:28learning to improvise has to do with
56:29learning more and more finger patterns
56:31and learning more and more music theory
56:33and it's true both of those things are
56:36important but it's not really where the
56:39improvisation really comes from the
56:41improvisation comes from having trained
56:43ears and one and you know that singing
56:45thing I was talking about believe it or
56:47not a lot of you are going to have a lot
56:49of trouble believing what I'm saying
56:50right now but I'm going to play you an
56:51example in just a second
56:53um my great quote is you are never going
56:56to play a better guitar solo than you
56:59can sing
57:00and people go huh what the heck nobody's
57:03ever said anything like this to me
57:04before that's because I'm telling you
57:05the truth and I'll show you what I mean
57:07um I'm going to play you a little bit of
57:08a tune that I wrote right here
57:10um this is a piece I wrote so it's kind
57:13of a funky Jazzy kind of tune and
57:16um uh so you'll see a little bit of my
57:18ability to compose this is just a little
57:20practice tape I have and over the top of
57:22that I'm going to improvise and I think
57:25you'll think it's pretty good and then
57:26I'm going to show you where that
57:27improvisation came from ready here we go
57:29it's like kind of you'll like this I
57:31think kind of a funky Rocky Jazzy bluesy
57:33thing let's see how I do
57:35[Music]
57:53all right
57:56[Music]
58:10thank you
58:12[Music]
58:20[Music]
58:36[Music]
58:41pretty good huh I'm a little old this is
58:43a little early in the morning for me but
58:46wouldn't you like to be able to
58:47improvise at least that well maybe you'd
58:48like to be able to improvise better than
58:50that now a lot of people think oh you
58:52did that because you learned more and
58:53more finger patterns and stuff like that
58:55but that's not where it came from you
58:56want to know where that solo came from
58:58it came from my mind and I'll prove it
59:00you'll never play a guitar solo better
59:02than you can sing you want to hear where
59:04that solo really came from came from
59:05right here
59:24now it's just that most people would
59:26rather listen to the guitar than my
59:28crappy voice so all I do is I know where
59:30to put my fingers in order to create the
59:34notes that I hear in my head so here's
59:35the whole solo together
59:52[Music]
1:00:00see it's all ear training the two most
1:00:03important words you'll ever hear me say
1:00:06we have so much more to talk about all
1:00:08that stuff I I can't believe I even
1:00:09managed to get this in in an hour but
1:00:11they're showing me that we're out of
1:00:12time for now hopefully you got it it's
1:00:13all in your support material too so
1:00:15we'll see all you guys next week okay
1:00:17and we'll talk more about this stuff
1:00:18have fun bye bye
1:00:22[Music]
1:00:29[Music]
1:00:50thank you
1:00:52[Music]

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