Freedom...

I've been playing guitar for half my life and with that you'd expect that I have acquired a fair amount of skill, and I guess I have. I took lesson for all of three months. I think that this was important. obviously using someone's skill and knowledge to help a learner progress is well-tried and proven way of learning, but after acquiring the use of basic chords and principals I left lesson and went on to learn for myself. I understand that leaving tutelage may inhibit advanced learning, but I felt like the time I spent with the instructor was not showing result like the beginning. 

I have had musical instruction in more ways than one. I learned about the piano from my mother, who plays the piano beautifully, but I wasn't a quick study and traditional music was very difficult to play. When I began going to middle school I joined the band. I have always wanted to play music and it seemed like a natural step. Actually I wanted to join the orchestra and play strings, but my sister convinced me that the instructor was cruel and intolerant. I think she just didn't want to have the same class as her younger brother. It was in middle school that I began to value the guitar. I had a youth minister that in my eyes was the coolest man ever, and he played guitar, so naturally I imitated him. He showed me the three basic chords; G, C, and D. I practiced, to everyone's annoyance, in the living room. Soon after my family moved, but I had already got the bug. They found a local music store that offered lessons and the rest is history. I still learned traditional music in school but in the evenings I learned radio hits on the guitar. I didn't do well in band, but that was fine with me. I joined a another band with my friends from school. However when I told him that I played guitar, he replied, "Great, you can play the drums." He was a cocky son-of-a gun, but he could play the guitar like no one's business. Being the same age and still in middle school I was jealous, but I threw myself into the drums. I got a kit of my own when I turned 14 and I annoyed the family and the neighbors for years. Over the years I've continued my musical development in guitar, drums, bass, piano. I've also been in a few more bands including a (black)gospel choir, for which I played the drums. I've learned and progressed with every new adventure, but recently I found myself stunted.

So why is this blog called "freedom"? Lately I've been bored. I don't really have the money to spend on the newest project I've found. I want to build a pedal from one of these DIY pedal sites. I don't know if it's really worth all that they say it is, but thats another blog. For the longest I've always had issues with laying down a best solo. Recording is always I little kinder than live situations in the fact that you can redo a take, but I have no confidence in what I play live because I never can remember that good solo lick I played in rehearsal and the major scale is just not that exciting. So I play a little four not solo that goes nowhere. Well, not anymore, I've came across just what I need at this point in my musical development. The Pentatonic Scale. I know what your thinking, you know the pentatonic but applied correctly it can become the basis for great lead licks. I've been watching some youtube videos and most of what I'm seeing is based around the pentatonic. This last weekend I tried out the pentatonic over some rock tunes and I got some looks like, "where did that come from". Slap some wah on that and you got instant rock 'n roll. 


Here's a little diagram I borrowed from learn-guitar-online.com