TOPIC: Fretmentor nuggets of wisdom and all that Jazz

I reread the discussions in "rather than let it die" and especially the portions on the 1-4-5 progression. I think maybe the sessions are finally getting through to us. Perhaps we should be listening more intently to Fretmentor discussions for the other nuggets of musical wisdom.

An example is FM's periodic jamming and stressing of 8 and 12 bar blues. An awesome tool and low and behold - most blues songs are based on these progressions! and are a lot of fun to jam along with a group.

Also, in one of the last sessions, the FM mentioned the Jazz progression (1-6-2-5). I caught this nugget and wrote it down. Did anyone else? It's another awesome tool - and WOW most jazz songs are based on this progression!

That class is what "awakened" me to the numbers!
As a guitarist or somewhat close to it, meaning bass was my start at age 7 being my family needed a bass player, I tend to see chord changes from the "root" position like the roots in a 1-4-5 were viewed as a square. :silly:Take your flat top and play a G,C,D,A all fretted... does that pattern resemble a rectangle? so the G(1) C(4) D(5) becomes a recognizable pattern in a "jam feel". from there it's easy to see (in the G scale) the 3B 6E... and [seldom] 2A ...keeps it simple. Right there you have 6 chords which makes the 7th an easy fun Phase I = 1-4-5, Phase II = throwin' in a 2,3, and 6?... not to mention the 7th. IS THAT NOT EASY? Now. All we have to do is...put it together:unsure:

Hope I'm not " over the top:woohoo: "

uh?

What I'm saying is its easier for me to remember a number sequence rather than a chord sequence being there is only seven numbers to represent multiple types of chords. For instance, from my chord book there are 160 different ways to play a C chord. Let's say there are that many ways to play each of the other 6 chords... that's 960 chords! To learn a new song, I'd rather know the numerical sequence so I'll know where to go. Whether or not I play the right type of chord the first time is not as important to me as getting the change right. I'll figure out how to play the chord right the second time. What if we're playing in G and FM states C7 at a change, I hesitate a nano second thinking "how does a C7 go?" If he says IV(4), I automatically go to a C. I'll correct the 7th later. Sometimes as FM is showing us a new song, he states the change as the change is made and I'm behind a half beat right there so I scamper to keep rythm and lose concentration...2nd time around, I'm at the same crossroads because I didn't retain it the first time. Bottom line: for me, numbers are easier to remember. This applies specifically to new songs we learn at pre-class jams. When there are changes at "the drop of a hat" and I don't get at least a beats' notice leading into it, I go into a couple of seconds of "catch-up". On the spot chord changes are tuff anyway... if I'm gonna be hanging and wondering, I'd respond quicker to a number bark. None of this would matter if I could read it off a tree! Until I can play better, I'll go with the flow. P.S. This post is probably more suited for the Whining Section:laugh:

HUH?????

and I thought it was so easy....now it sounds so complicated George!!! I probably didn't understand it to begin with !