III. Guitar Notation // MAR 3rd

Desi Husband Hi Desi!  no worries, slow and steady is how you lean  in Romanian we say "nobody was born a master", in Germany they say "no master has ever fallen straight from the sky", hahah 

To your points:

• 3b: Both versions work - the fingerings from the stream are just a little bit easier though! I haven't received the updated workbook yet, which is why I haven't uploaded it here, but yes, either one shuld work.
• 3c: Exactly! That's what you would do. I wouldn't say you "strum" it, since that generally implies playing more than one note at the same time, but yeah, definitely - play it once a measure and let it ring. That's it!
• 3d: No barre there! The VII stands for seventh position (it's just another way to bring to the player's attention that the first bass should be played on the fifth string, followed by the next on the fourth, etc.)

Bill Dodd Hi Bill! Oh, you can certainly feel free to send in assignments any time that works for you! Feel free to continue to post them even after the course has ended! 

To your points:

• 3d: I see! Perhaps I might be able to help - which part of it is confusing, is it the many string indications? I did make a point to spell everything out in a very pedantic manner, since this is a didactic score. Let me know if I can help in any way!
• Key signatures: Oh, I see why that might be confusing! They are related either to the key that we were just in, or to the key that we are about to be in. I didn't explain it in the stream, since there was no time to go into such intricate details, but what is happening there is that at the end of a passage, the key signature we were in is "cancelled" before the beginning of the next key signature.

Let's look at 3b for example: You see how the first measure has 4 sharps, yet the third measure does not? Technically, in order to express that those sharps are gone, we need to write down four naturals at the beginning of the measure.

In 3a, something slightly different is happening: the key signature at the end of the line simply signals that a new one will come right after. Look at 3b - see how it starts in that same key signature with 4 sharps? That's what the additional key signature at the end of the previous line (end of 3a) is there for. It's basically telling the player: "Careful! New key signature ahead! Pay attention!"

• I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about key signatures. What would you like to know? I didn't go over any of the theory about which keys have which key signatures. I'm attaching a chart that might help, if that's what you're wondering about!

JOHN ANDERSON Hi John!!! So good to see your update on here. True about the 75% speed, hahah  Perhaps after the last session, I will actually go and have a few drinks 

Let's dive into the exercises!

• 3c and 3d: Absolutely perfect!!! Nothing for me to say here at all!  Amazing job.
• 3e: Really great as well! Very quick and unimportant note: on the second run, you actually introduced a tiiiny small rest between each one of the strings. This is a common issue with slurs (we all tend to rush them in the beginning), but it happened to such a small degree that talking about it now feels like nitpicking. Wonderful job!
• 3f: Great job here as well!!! Very small pointers: 1) be careful when you play the first E, right after the bass. That E tends to come a little fast. The rest above the bass note is as long as every other melody note in that measure, so do pay attention not to shorten it. 2) The penultimate note (the high D) would be easier to play with 2 (middle finger) rather than 3 (ring finger). That being said, this high up on the fretboard, the frets are so small that it doesn't make much of a difference at this point, and they are both valid options!

Congratulations once again - such a great job on all of these!!! 

Desi Husband Family is more important than the reading music course!  hope you had fun!!!

Desi Husband  the many advantages of being a member of the tonebase Community!

Desi Husband Great job, Desi!!  so good to see your update on here!

• 3e: Almost perfect!!! I like the slow tempo, that's exactly how you should practice every difficult passage, it's the fastest way to become comfortable with things. One very small detail: in the penultimate measure, the second E was supposed to be played as an open string, to give you time to shift all the way up to the following C. You made it work without it, but it would be easier with the fingering from the exercise. Great job!
• 3f: Wonderful!!! Nothing for me to say here  just great job all around. Especially on the rhythm! Such even slurs! That's exactly how we want them to sound.

Desi Husband hah! That certainly happens a lot, I know this issue from my own experience: you practice something one way, and when you go on stage, you play it a totally different way... that you've never played before! It's like being possessed, haha  great, then! This means that you were practicing it correctly 

Bill Dodd Great job, Bill!!! So good to see your update on here!

• 3a: On this one, I can't tell whether you are playing with the correct fingering or not, since it's only an audio recording, and our right hand fingers will generally all sound the same. But if you did the alternation correctly, congratulations!!! I suspect you did, because the fast notes sounded very even, rhythmically, which would be hard to achieve if you hadn't done the correct fingering  therefore, great job!
• 3b: I could certainly hear the difference between the two chords, good job! One thing though, the second and third chords are supposed to also start on the lowest string - your low E was missing. You did everything with your left hand that you were supposed to do though!
• 3c: Great job!!! Just like in 3a, I can't tell whether you are doing the correct fingering or not, since it's only an audio recording - but you are definitely playing the right notes. Congratulations! 
• 3e: Same as above. Quick notes here though: the notes on the second string are not always very even. This exercise is for fingering, but try to start in such a slow tempo that you can play this without needing the tempo changes. Also, the high C in the penultimate measure was played as a C sharp. It's a big jump, but make sure you land in the correct fret (8th).

BHASKAR Thank you for posting your update - great job on getting to all of these exercises!

• 3a: Good job! Unfortunately, I can't tell if you are doing the correct right hand fingering or not, since your right hand is out of frame on this recording. That being said, I suspect you are, since the fast notes sound quite even, rhythmically! When it comes to rhythm however, make sure you don't waste any time at all with moving between measures. It's a very natural tendency, to want to add in a little rest between measures, but we should keep fighting against it.
• 3c: Good job getting all the notes right!! This is a hard one, going all the way up and down the fretboard, and you got them all down! To make it even a little easier, pay close attention to the fingering on the exercise. The F sharp in measure 3 was played with 2 rather than 1, and same goes for the G in measure 4
• 3f: You got all the notes right once again! Careful though, the rhythm was very uneven. It's natural to rush the slurs a bit, but we should be vigilant in fighting against it  both the initial note (which you play with your right hand) and the slurred note (which you pull off with your left hand) should be equally long (think of a 1-1 ratio). The current ratio is more like 1-4.

Great job on everything and thank you for posting this update!

PS: Like I was saying in the other thread, try getting into the habit of tuning your guitar before you start practicing - it will help your ears get used to the correct sound of notes! There are many free apps available.

José Espírito Santo Great job on these, Jose! Thanks for sending them in!

One thing, since this session was all about fingering, it might make sense to send in video, rather than audio recordings. I can't tell whether you are using the correct fingers on these exercises since I can't see your hands. That being said, I suspect you are using the right ones most of the time, since things are sounding good and in time! 

In the Malats Serenata, make sure you wait long enough on the long E in measure 2 and 4. Try counting the beats out loud! Go "2 - 3" once you played the E to make sure you wait the proper amount of time before moving on to the next measure. Sounding great though!!! Congratulations 

In Leyenda, you got all the difficult bass notes and the rhythm right - congratulations!! But do pay attention, your treble string responses were on the wrong string! The repeated note that follows every bass note is a B (second string open), not an E (first string open). This is going to be super easy to do for you, since you already have the hard part down; just wanted to make you aware!

Congratulations on everything once again!

José Espírito Santo Hi Jose!! This is perfect, thanks for sending it in! Nothing more for me to say here at all  the string issue was fixed, and your fingering was flawless! Congratulations!