Griff's "Mixing up the blues sounds in position 1" email (1/11/21)

[SuzanneShafer]

I learn a lot from Griff's emails, and this particular one could not have been more timely. The day before receiving it, I spent about three hours trying to figure out how to use a Mixolydian/Blues Hybrid Scale for soloing...to no avail. But when Griff talked about using a hybrid of the Blues Box 1 and Major Box 2, his idea made perfect sense to me. It also lifted my spirits because I already knew both boxes and had no trouble moving between them, and what Griff was doing with them felt like something I could actually do. Griff talked about using the major scale notes when going up on strings 1 to 3, and the minor ones when going down. To cement what I had learned from the video, I set about creating a diagram that would help me remember which notes were which, and help me better understand why Griff's idea works so well. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the blending of the two Boxes actually creates the very Mixolydian scale I had gotten nowhere with the day before. Griff's way of presenting it made all the difference!

I'm a visual learner, and in case someone else is too and might benefit from my diagram, I have attached it. The notations inside the diagram's dots are related to musical theory. You don't really need to understand them to use the diagram. The color-coded dots may be sufficient for you. But that level of detail is important to my own learning process and, in this case, revealed some patterns I would have otherwise missed.

If you missed the email, here is the link to Griff's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJz1OWDs8ks&feature=emb_imp_woyt

 

[Cowboy Bob]

@SuzanneShafer Nicely done diagram. Thanks for sharing.

 

[CaptainMoto]

Well, Damn Girl!

When's your website open for orders?

I've got some visual learning tendencies, thanks.

 

[Paleo]

Oops! The P4 is not common to both scales. It only occurs in the minor blues Box 1.

R b3 4 b5 5 b7 vs R 2 3 5 6

Combined = R 2 b3 3 4 b5 5 6 b7, nine of 12 possible notes.

= Mixolydian w/b3, b5 and/or Dorian w/3,b5

Slow Blues Supplement Lesson 10

 

[SuzanneShafer]

Oops! The P4 is not common to both scales. It only occurs in the minor blues Box 1.

Oops, for sure. Thank you. Music theory is new territory for me and I apparently got lost in the dots during the color coding. A corrected diagram is attached. Where is the "Slow Blues Supplement Lesson 10" that you referenced?

 

[Elio]

Oops, for sure. Thank you. Music theory is new territory for me and I apparently got lost in the dots during the color coding. A corrected diagram is attached. Where is the "Slow Blues Supplement Lesson 10" that you referenced?

Wow, great diagram and an interesting way to look it. Thanks for posting! Slow Blues Supplement is it's own course, and one of the more challenging.

 

[Paleo]

• No problem. I just like to make sure folks get off on the right foot, er note.
  
  
• If you’re an AAP member, you have access to the course list. If not don’t worry. We’ve pretty much summarized the lesson.

All the notes combined is considered the “Composite Blues Scale”.

Griff shows it in all 5 positions.

But prefers to still think in “separate” scales.

 

[SuzanneShafer]

• If you’re an AAP member, you have access to the course list. If not don’t worry. We’ve pretty much summarized the lesson

I really like the way Griff teaches...so much so that I bought several of his courses right off the bat. I've been telling myself "No" to the All Access Pass because I already have so much on hand, but having just checked out the Slow Blues Supplement course, I think I'm going to have to say "Yes", because it will give me access not only to that course but to others I believe will help ground my learning.

I was once a pianist who could play almost any music set in front of me...but I couldn't play anything without that music! When I bought Griff's courses, the only music theory I knew was about I-IV-V chords; I had no idea what he meant when he mentioned "Box 1" in one of the first emails I received. When I went digging in his course manuals for an explanation of that, everything changed. I've only been at this for a little over a month, but I experience music very differently now, and it's amazing! The theory has provided the structure I apparently needed in order to do something with the music I've always heard in my head. Already I'm improvising (very clumsily) over a slow 12-bar blues jam track as part of my daily practice and looking forward to the day when my fingers can keep up with my ears.

My thanks to everyone who has chimed in on this thread. Your input has been very helpful.

 

[tommytubetone]

I think I'm going to have to say "Yes", because it will give me access not only to that course but to others I believe will help ground my learning

This will probably be one of the best moves you can make. Make sure you get the basics down first, as in BGU 2.0. As time goes on you can use the course catalog as sort of a menu to dig into things you like or things you think you will use in the future. Best of luck!!

 

[tommytubetone]

This will probably be one of the best moves you can make. Make sure you get the basics down first, as in BGU 2.0. As time goes on you can use the course catalog as sort of a menu to dig into things you like or things you think you will use in the future. Best of luck!!

Or maybe Beginning BGU if you're just starting out.

 

[jmin]

....
I was once a pianist who could play almost any music set in front of me...but I couldn't play anything without that music!

I had posted a joke on the forum a few years ago that I had heard on a television show - - thanks for confirming! :

"How do you stop a piano player from playing? ...Take the sheet music away."
"How do you stop a guitar player from playing? ...Put the sheet music in front of them."

 

[SuzanneShafer]

I had posted a joke on the forum a few years ago that I had heard on a television show - - thanks for confirming! :

"How do you stop a piano player from playing? ...Take the sheet music away."
"How do you stop a guitar player from playing? ...Put the sheet music in front of them."

That's hilarious! And so often true. Unfortunately for my self-esteem, both my Mom and my sister could sit down and play any tune hummed to them...with jazz chords, no less!

 

[david moon]

In my teenage years in the 60's I was fooling around in bass with a band. In my 20s I took lessons from a classical bass player using the Smandl method. Now I am plugged into networks for musical theater or big band that require reading.

 

[Zzzen Dog]

I've been kinda stalled in BGU, Solo #4, which is the first solo that brings in the major / minor concept, but it doesn't really explain it in detail. This Blog post got me thinking and I actually jumped courses to the Major Minor Blues Sounds course. I'm it works the concepts in a really simple manner. You might look there for something where you don't need to worry about challenging fingerings or anything beyond eighth notes.

 

[Paleo]

I like to make a distinction between "mixing" and "combining" Major and Minor.

(I also find it easier to think in terms of "characteristic" notes rather than "complete" scales. )

Mixing implies playing Major (3,6) over the I chord and minor (b3,b7 + or - b5) over the IV and V.
The sounds are still used separately at different times over different chords.

Major (3,6)
Minor (b3, b7 + or - b5)

Mixing sounds is Griff's approach to Major Minor Blues Shapes.


Combining implies using some combination of both Major and minor (b3,3, b5,6, b7) at the same time over any, or each, chord.

This would include:

Major Blues (b3, 3, 6)
Pentatonic 6 (b3, 6)
Mixolydian (3, 6, b7)
Dorian (b3, 6, b7)
Composite Blues (b3, 3, b5, 6, b7).


Making sense of using a "Mixolydian/Blues Hybrid Scale" involves some combination of sounds (b3, 3, b5, 6, b7).

That's pretty much it.

At least that's what makes sense to me.

 

[SuzanneShafer]

I've been kinda stalled in BGU, Solo #4, which is the first solo that brings in the major / minor concept, but it doesn't really explain it in detail. This Blog post got me thinking and I actually jumped courses to the Major Minor Blues Sounds course. I'm it works the concepts in a really simple manner. You might look there for something where you don't need to worry about challenging fingerings or anything beyond eighth notes.

Glad to hear I'm not the only course jumper. My learning style seems to require it. I only began playing a standard tuning guitar this past November, beginning with Tony Polecastro's "30 Days to Play" course. In response to a theory question I posted on the Tony's Acoustic Challenge forum, a member quoted Griff, so I Googled him. After viewing a couple of Griff's videos, I knew I'd found where I wanted to be. I just completed "Beginning Blues Guitar", which I interrupted several times with forays into several of Griff's theory courses that I purchased along with BBG and BGU-2. They really made a difference for me. I did the first three lessons of BGU-2 last night, and since I don't have either of the courses that have been recommended in this thread, as of today it's a for sure that I'm signing up for the All Access Pass!

 

[ronico]

Hi Suzanne. Not quite a hijack or maybe it is but what did you think about Tony's stuff? Think you're going to get alot out of this forum, I know I did. Careful on the info overload ?

 

[SuzanneShafer]

Hi Suzanne. Not quite a hijack or maybe it is but what did you think about Tony's stuff? Think you're going to get alot out of this forum, I know I did. Careful on the info overload ?

Tony is a good teacher. His teaching style includes a lot of off-beat humor and he strikes me as a quirky guy I'd enjoy being friends with. The "30 Days to Play" course was a great way for me to begin playing because the lessons were never overwhelming; they are structured to bring you along slowly. I also completed his "Fretboard Wizard" course, which is very basic and was my introduction to music theory. The TAC community (forum) is very helpful.

All that said, since I realized that I wanted to focus on Blues and found Griff's stuff, I now log into Tony's site only for the brief daily lessons, which do move my technical skills forward but don't support my need to understand music from the ground up. I was the kind of kid who needs to pull a clock apart to see how it works, but no one ever pointed me toward the Theory Toolbox for that where music was concerned. Griff does, bless him, and it has changed my experience of music. I got a real chuckle out of yesterday's email, in which he said "Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow and just take something in and play." Got it, Griff! And I try to do that daily. But at 70, I've found that memorizing licks doesn't come easily, and ideas are more likely to stick if there are hooks in my brain (e.g., Boxes and Scales) to hang them on.

 

[ronico]

Tony is a good teacher. His teaching style includes a lot of off-beat humor and he strikes me as a quirky guy I'd enjoy being friends with. The "30 Days to Play" course was a great way for me to begin playing because the lessons were never overwhelming; they are structured to bring you along slowly. I also completed his "Fretboard Wizard" course, which is very basic and was my introduction to music theory. The TAC community (forum) is very helpful.

All that said, since I realized that I wanted to focus on Blues and found Griff's stuff, I now log into Tony's site only for the brief daily lessons, which do move my technical skills forward but don't support my need to understand music from the ground up. I was the kind of kid who needs to pull a clock apart to see how it works, but no one ever pointed me toward the Theory Toolbox for that where music was concerned. Griff does, bless him, and it has changed my experience of music. I got a real chuckle out of yesterday's email, in which he said "Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow and just take something in and play." Got it, Griff! And I try to do that daily. But at 70, I've found that memorizing licks doesn't come easily, and ideas are more likely to stick if there are hooks in my brain (e.g., Boxes and Scales) to hang them on.

Thanks for the review Suzanne. On a rainy day I sat through an introduction thing with Tony and realized how many courses of Griff's I have that I have barely unwrapped (you know who you are peeps!). I bounce around and use the courses and forum as a great big library of things wonderful! Everybody remembers libraries EH?!