Last One In The Major Series

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Aww come on guys,
I'm trying to force some expanded learning across all keys.
:whistle:

Honestly, it felt like I was cheating. Some time ago, when I decided to learn "Red House," I was determined to play it in Bb, as that's the key Hendrix played it and Griff's backing track for it (Ultimate Blues Jams) is in Bb. For some reason, after doing the trademark opening, at some point, I ended up sliding into A (or sometimes B). At that time, most of what I was learning was in A (or E, G, B, C, take your pick) and my brain just didn't want to transpose the licks I knew and was learning into Bb. Even though I was pretty well acquainted with the fretboard, it seemed as if I was landing a plane at night and suddenly they turned off the runway lights. The fretboard suddenly looked completely foreign to me. It took me several days of doing almost nothing but mangling several different backing tracks in Bb before I got comfortable (i.e., not embarrassing) playing.

I'm still that way with Eb, because nothing fits. Ab and Db are just weird. After all the years of abuse, that's how my old, misfiring brain now works. If I still had a lot of ambition left, I would go through all of the keys and play them until I am comfortable. But I don't have that ambition and it's really easy to just tune down a half step and pretending I'm playing on the white keys. My mental "Check Engine" light has come on and I find it easier to put a piece of electrical tape over it than fix it.
 

artyman

Fareham UK
Ooops, what have I started :eek: and I always thought that confession was good for the soul. Fate has punished me as it happens, whilst cleaning the conservatory roof I've gashed my index finger and managed to detach a large sliver of flesh. Thankfully my neighbour was able to assist me with repairs, so no playing for me for a few days.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Ooops, what have I started :eek: and I always thought that confession was good for the soul. Fate has punished me as it happens, whilst cleaning the conservatory roof I've gashed my index finger and managed to detach a large sliver of flesh. Thankfully my neighbour was able to assist me with repairs, so no playing for me for a few days.
OH MY:cry:
Hope that heals up fast.
 
Last edited:

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Was that definitely you Paleo?
It was me. But not my guitar.:sneaky:

We got together for my birthday the other day and my brother let me bring home his Mexican Strat to try out.

I ran through all the presets on my Pandora and they all sound pretty "weird" compared to what I'm used to with my American Standard.

They all sound pretty thin and kind of trebly and mushy to me by comparison.

As you know, I'm not much of a gear or tech guy, but now I realize what a difference it can make.:)
 
Last edited:
Top