# Seeking Teacher



## Axe Dragon (Aug 21, 2013)

Hi All,

I’m in search of a teacher as I’d like to start lessons again. I’m near Ottawa, but with technology like Skype these days, remote lessons work too.

I’m pretty decent already so maybe I’d say I’m an intermediate player, perhaps on certain days maybe even on the advanced side of intermediate.

I’d like to work on the following:

continue my journey towards complete fretboard freedom
understanding modes
understanding chords and inversions at various positions within the context of a key signature to build tension and resolve through progressions
start exploring the eastern scales
thinking about note/chord targeting and when to switch scales in the context of a progression (example, minor to major blues, bust out some short duration E Phrygian Dominant over a general key of A minor … when I hit an E major chord of course…, other weird ways to catch people’s attention by straying from the standard major scale for leads)

I’m mostly a rock and blues guy, but my home base comfort zone is really Aeolian, not just pentatonic…

I feel like maybe some jazz would help me think differently.

Any teachers out there that can help a player like me?

Thanks,

Axe


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## TempoGuy (Jun 11, 2021)

Hi Axe,

Dawson from Peterborough L&M is really into the things you mention. He has taught me over Skype at times and he does a great job.

Good luck searching


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## Derek_T (10 mo ago)

Hey Axe,

I don't give lessons but coming from a similar background as yours I thought I could share my own experience. It won't substitute
for a good teacher but it's free  and it might put you in the right direction.

Modes:

One of the biggest misunderstanding I've came across with Modes is "Hoe to use them ?".
In a nutshell, modes are mainly a compositional tool, and the best way (IME) to think about them it's to think about colours.

Let's take CMaj, here are the mode and their formulas:
- CMaj7 - Ionian : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Dm7 - Dorian : 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
- Em7 - Phrygian : 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- FMaj7 - Lydian : 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
- G7 - Mixolydian : 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
- Am7 - Aeolian : 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- B7b5 - Locrian : 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7

When you are in the key of C (or Am), D Dorian, F Lydian... all relate to the same tonal center C (or Am) because
they all share the same note: C D E F G A B. So they aren't much use to create tension (a priori... more later)
But, if you start playing C dorian or E Mixolidian you are changing key. Nothing wrong with changing key to
add tension as long as you know how to resolve gracefully otherwise it sounds like you don't know 
what you're doing.

Which leads to your second point which is much more important (IMHO),
with respect to your objective, than mode: Understanding chords.

If modes do not necessarily tell you what you can play, a better approach to start
is to understand the function of each chords: Functionnal Harmony.

Again in CMaj:
- CMaj7 - Ionian : Tonic
- Dm7 - Dorian : Sub-Dominant (some just use Dominant / Tonic dichotomy instead)
- Em7 - Phrygian : Tonic
- FMaj7 - Lydian : Sub-Dominant
- G7 - Mixolydian : Dominant
- Am7 - Aeolian : Tonic
- B7b5 - Locrian : Dominant

Tonic means: at rest they are not leading anywhere.
Dominant (and Su-Dominant): Create tension that needs to be resolved.

First thing to note is that you can substitute chords with similar function, which opens up possibility as you can
start adding colors by substituting chords but it is also quite helpful when you want to understand chords progression,
to improvise.

Indeed if some chords create tension, they eventually have to resolve somwhere (most of the time). In practice 
in Jazz standard chords rarely exist in isolation but rather as harmonic bloc.

You probably heard about ii-V-I (Dm7 - G7 - CMaj7 in the key of C) or a turn around vi - ii - V - I... as well as a multitude
of variations but the basic idea is that when you encounter this chords they work as a bloc, moving the story/melody
from A to B.

Ok so why does that stuff matters for you ? Because that's how you begin to understand how tension and resolution works
and how you can use them without sounding like you are wanking random notes. Because these blocs give a clear direction
to your lines.

Which brings us to your next question: targeting notes.
So let's lets recap, some chords create tension and other feel at rest (home / tonic), and there's a way to put these
chords together to create a clear sense of tension and resolution.

Wait a second ! Dm7 - G7 - CMaj7 are all in the key of C so how do I add tension in my solo if thinking
D dorian - G mixolidian - C Ionian is useless ? Introducing target note.
That's where thinking about chords (instead of modes) make more sense, because by highlithing the chord tone you highlight 
the function.

So instead of : D dorian - G mixolidian - C Ionian
You'd think : D F A C - G B D F - C E G B (1 - 3 /third - 5/ fifth - 7seventh) the arpeggios.

Now that you know which notes to highlight (in time of course) you can start building lines using other notes of the scale
or even outside the scale, what matter is your lines cross over chord tones (in time !) with the chord change.

Ok that's fine but when I play a 12 bar blues, there's no ii-V, so why would I care?

Because, now that you understand the idea of tension and realease, especially the notion of "going somewhere to resolve",
you don't need to have a ii-V in the progression to play ii-V...
This is where you start to "stray away" from people expectations, because you can play lines that imply chords that or not there
but eventually resolve to the center => tension and release.

Ex: first 4 Bars of a Blues in A (basic, no quick 4...)
| A || A || A || A |

You could play
| A || A || Bm - E7 || A |, you'd use chord tone to highlight the harmonic movement from the ii to the V back to the one.

IMPORTANT:
As with many thing in music, context matters. So when adding colors or straying away you have to be mindfull of what the rest of the
band is playing.

Of course it's a basic theory 101 and not a full course, but if you already have a good background my hope is this is going to 
help you put the pieces together. I had several teachers, but I found that understading the big picutres was very important
to make sense of all this and how to use it. 

Where to start:

1. If you already have a primer on the theory and it's just about the practice I'd say getting the arpeggios under your fingers is
a good start. It's going to help with fretboard visualization as well.

2. Set realistic goals, and find a song (A Blues for instance: No Blues by Wes, Billy's Bounce by Benson...) and start transcribing
to get some of this Jazz vocabulary, Robben Ford also has so good Jazz lick based on arpeggios on Tiger Walk (live) for instance.
IME, it takes much more work to sound good when you play with harmony than it takes to play pentatonic, so be patient and work slowly.

3. Use the material, loop a couple of chords and try use some of the licks you learned or create your own licks.
It's not going to come out in your improvistion if you don't spend a fair amount of time getting familiar with the sound and the fingering.

4. Good Luck!


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## Axe Dragon (Aug 21, 2013)

Derek_T said:


> Hey Axe,
> 
> I don't give lessons but coming from a similar background as yours I thought I could share my own experience. It won't substitute
> for a good teacher but it's free  and it might put you in the right direction.
> ...


Thanks for this! I’ll spend some time with this with my Axe in hand. Appreciate the post!

Axe


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Derek_T said:


> Hey Axe,
> 
> I don't give lessons but coming from a similar background as yours I thought I could share my own experience. It won't substitute
> for a good teacher but it's free  and it might put you in the right direction.
> ...


This should be a sticky at the top of this sub-forum. Nice post. You laid it out in a way that makes it all seem very accessible.


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## Derek_T (10 mo ago)

zztomato said:


> This should be a sticky at the top of this sub-forum. Nice post. You laid it out in a way that makes it all seem very accessible.


Thanks ! It took me years before I was able to put the pieces together. If I can spare someone else the trouble


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Derek_T said:


> Thanks ! It took me years before I was able to put the pieces together. If I can spare someone else the trouble


It's amazing how simple and complex it all can be at the same time.

Throw in the human element of "feel" and the whole thing becomes a mind bender of human accomplishment.

I do agree with @zztomato and would second that not only should your explanation be a sticky, it is the easiest to follow explanation I have heard of the complete concept without being overly complex and incomprehensible without reams of pervious study and knowledge.


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## Mutant_Guitar (Oct 24, 2021)

An important part of absorbing "new" information is becoming aware of it. And that awareness is a temporal process that takes the instrument out of the equation, and draws further upon your mind and body. Sounds that are considered "exotic" to your palette require that you become aware of them over time. "New/exotic" harmonies require that you spend time listening to them, and hanging out in their zones, that you sing them and hear them reverberate in their particular way. And so in the end, all of these harmonies end up carrying a sense of character that you impart on them...this takes all the time and heightens the pleasure.


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