Qusetions for the vets

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Hello,
I have completed a few of Griff's courses. I have enjoyed them immensely. I recently purchased the AAP. I am really digging it and highly recommend it to those who like his teaching style. This sub has not had a post in 2 years and I am hoping that the vets who have taken a poke at it can share some wisdom.

Griff is obviously a huge fan of the 60 BPM approach. I learned all the notes on the fretboard in AGBU this way. It was time very well spent. I have allocated a fair amount of time working on C and G in CAGED. I know exactly where I need to be but as others have stated in the past that D shape is just damn tough to set quickly.

Has any one gotten through the circle of 5ths doing it at 60 bpm?
Did you move on when you got just C and G @ 60 or did you wait till you got 'em all before moving on?
Any additional thoughts are most appreciated.

Thanks!!
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
its a course i bought because eventually i will need it, just been doing the other ones for a while, had some shoulder surgery so other courtses are needed to build speed and dexterity
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
I started that one last summer. Didn't get too far in it, but I remember I did start doing the circle of 5ths thing. I think I got through the first third of the circle (C, G, D, and A) before I got the opportunity to talk to Griff at a workshop and he suggested that, to meet the objectives I had outlined to him, I should focus on another course instead. So I switched and haven't gotten back to it. Like Mark said, it's one of those that I'll eventually get around to doing.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
I haven't "mastered" the Circle of 5ths exercise.

Seems to me that if you can connect the shapes in one key you should be able to do them in any key.

The "lowest" starting shape will just be different.

I found the following section on "Alternate I, IV and V Chords more "useful".

Here you play progressions staying in position by using the various chord shapes.

The rest of the course is about "geography" and forming extended chord shapes, arpeggios and relating the shapes to pentatonic and major scale patterns.

Very worthwhile, but as Griff stresses in the intro, it's more about learning how the notes on the neck are organized rather than a course in new playing ideas.:)
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
@Paleo thank you for your thoughts, they are always on point. I went into this course knowing that I wasnt getting any new playing ideas, but I would be getting that much closer to really understanding and visualizing the fretboard at a high level. I tend to get tunnel vision and have put in significant time now working on the the circle of 5th exercise (a lot more than I had anticipated). The hardest part being getting my left hand to make a couple of those stretches in a timely fashion. The good news is I can now get through C, G, D, and A @ 60 BPM. This aspect of course is truly about brute force - paying your dues and putting in the reps. And like you said once I got the initial shapes down the other keys are falling into place in short order. I worked on the following section "Alternate I, IV and V Chords" a few days ago and it is definitely very cool, I will move onto it when I complete the whole circle of 5ths @ 60 BPM
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Maybe work on both sections before you get too used to always playing the shapes "in order".:sneaky:
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
I got through the whole circle of 5ths today @60BPM. I have worked my ass off to get there. One thing that helped a bunch was just ripping around the circle of 5ths chord to chord in the position closest to the headstock (C chord, to G chord, to A chord, etc.). It enabled me to not have to think at all about what my next chord would be - I could just transition without thinking. I have been working on that while moving along in the course as Paleo suggested (thank you sir!). I have had several aha moments where I am visualizing/seeing the fretboard much better. @Griff there is a typo in the chart at the bottom of page 12. 2nd string root right/body facing it says D shape. It should read C shape.
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
I got through the whole circle of 5ths today @60BPM. I have worked my ass off to get there. One thing that helped a bunch was just ripping around the circle of 5ths chord to chord in the position closest to the headstock (C chord, to G chord, to A chord, etc.). It enabled me to not have to think at all about what my next chord would be - I could just transition without thinking. I have been working on that while moving along in the course as Paleo suggested (thank you sir!). I have had several aha moments where I am visualizing/seeing the fretboard much better. @Griff there is a typo in the chart at the bottom of page 12. 2nd string root right/body facing it says D shape. It should read C shape.

I like that idea
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
I got through the whole circle of 5ths today @60BPM. I have worked my ass off to get there. One thing that helped a bunch was just ripping around the circle of 5ths chord to chord in the position closest to the headstock (C chord, to G chord, to A chord, etc.). It enabled me to not have to think at all about what my next chord would be - I could just transition without thinking. I have been working on that while moving along in the course as Paleo suggested (thank you sir!). I have had several aha moments where I am visualizing/seeing the fretboard much better. @Griff there is a typo in the chart at the bottom of page 12. 2nd string root right/body facing it says D shape. It should read C shape.
That chart isn't necessarily wrong, but there's not necessarily a right answer, either, the way I see it. The D and C shape share so much that they are effectively the same to me - feel free to make that change in your manual and use that as your guide if you prefer it.
 

JimLane

Blues Newbie
Am very comfortable with all five shapes...can move through Circle of Fifths @60 ppm. Was wondering, would it be "wrong" to go with the E shape (say, starting with key of G) then work through arpeggio, Major, minor and pentatonic scales for every Key...up and back until each is mastered for that shape then move to another shape and do the same for those shapes? Am asking because I worked through the entire course in about a week. All aspects were well-understood. It is now time to go back and master the system. Just asking, will using the method I have described be detrimental? It was stated well, that "the lines would begin to blur"....they have. Just don't want to get "out in the weeds" because I take this approach. Great course!
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Just my 2 cents and with inflation that's only worth 1 cent these days...

"Wrong"... Nope as long as you don't get so confused with information overload that you aren't able to use them when the time comes.
That said, be sure to keep jamming to tracks or with others too. You might find that you don't really need all of that to sound great.
 
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