# Technical Side of Things



## MustEnjoyPie (Jan 28, 2009)

I'm starting up a brand new practice regime, that will make the most of the time I have. But when it comes to the 'technical' part, I'm a little lost.
Okay, I do admit, even though I've been playing since August, I'm not really up to par with what scales I should be focusing on, what chords should I know.
And to be honest, I'm not too sure where to start either.
So basically I just need advice where I should be starting to learn technically and what help me learn better.
Don't worry about what I already know, because it doesn't hurt to go over something again.
Thanks~~


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## MustEnjoyPie (Jan 28, 2009)

Paul said:


> Maybe you should find a new teacher that can provide better direction.


way ahead of you, haha


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## fret15 (Feb 17, 2006)

MustEnjoyPie said:


> I'm starting up a brand new practice regime, that will make the most of the time I have. But when it comes to the 'technical' part, I'm a little lost.
> Okay, I do admit, even though I've been playing since August, I'm not really up to par with what scales I should be focusing on, what chords should I know.
> And to be honest, I'm not too sure where to start either.
> So basically I just need advice where I should be starting to learn technically and what help me learn better.
> ...


First thing I'd like to say before you read this is I don't know how far you are with anything, so these recommendations are from the very beginning 

A really good start would be understanding how a chord is built and what it is built from (say a major chord is built from the first, third, and fifth degrees of the scale)...to do that, you would need to understand what a major scale is, so you should delve into that subject first.

C major scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B, back to C...the intervals between the notes are what make up the scale, so :

C + 2 semitones (or halfsteps) = D
D + 2 semitones (or halfsteps) = E
E + 1 semitone (or halfstep) = F
F + 2 semitones (or halfsteps) = G
G + 2 semitones (or halfsteps) = A
A + 2 semitones (or halfsteps) = B
B + 1 semitone (or halfstep) = C

The "written" formula for this scale is (W=whole tone, or 2 semitones, and H=1 semitone): W-W-H-W-W-W-H.

Also, a mode of the major scale is the same notes from the scale, but starting from a different note, for example starting the C scale from D is the "Dorian" mode. The notes are the same as the C major scale, but the formula has changed since we're starting on the second note. So, instead of:

W-W-H-W-W-W-H, we have
---W-H-W-W-W-H-W.

Therefore technically, the Dorian mode is a different scale than the major scale.

Learning every mode and its relationship to the major scale it belongs in is very important. This is especially important later on when you realize that while improvising, for example, you can use many different modes starting from the same note and it will give you different sounds (for example, instead of strictly using D Dorian, you use other modes but on D, like D Aeolian or Phrygian to give more flavor).

I realize it might be a lot thrown at you very quickly, but I'd encourage to find webpages with good lessons on learning about the major scale and its components. The most important thing I can tell you, though, is that when you learn some theory like this, it's really important to put it in context and therefore to play the scales and visualize the scales and modes on the guitar. Otherwise, you may end up having problems relating the two. I know it initially took me a while to connect the two and visualize that related modes are part of the same scale and use the same notes.

If I wasn't clear (which I probably wasn't), let me know and I can try to clarify it as much as possible! hehe

Good luck and have fun


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