I'm thinking about taking either their online Guitar Chords 101, or Guitar Scales 101 class and am having trouble deciding which to take. Here's my situation:

I've played for 40 years (!), played in bands from the time I was 13, studied a bit (did a summer session at Berklee in 1974) and earned a living playing until my mid twenties, then gave it up. Always played, but didn't do it full time anymore.

I've started playing again avidly the last few years and have been studying with a terrific teacher here in L.A. When I started with him I said I wanted to pick up where I left off all those years ago, and wanted to learn to play like Robben Ford (ha!). He's given me a lot of great material to learn, taught me about the resolved and resolved sides of the modes, harmonic and melodic minor. And he's focused on trying to get me to see how things all work together, as well as various scale application, like playing melodic minor up a half step, etc etc.

I do have good feel and time (if I do say so myself) and am playing in a couple of bands locally and am having a blast. But even there some things get in my way. For example, I'm a lefty and have always had a good fretting hand, good vibrato etc, but my right hand is useless. I can pick slowly, or Dimeola fast, but have trouble with clean 8th note or 16th note runs. Always been that way.

My main problem is that I just don't have enough time to devote to all he's given me, and as a result I don't have as good a roadmap of the neck as I'd like to. And so when I'm trying to play over changes, I'm always searching for chords tones, scales etc, changing positions, instead of being able to find the different chord tones and scales in one place.

My thought was that I needed some kind of 'boot camp' that would give me the chord tones, arps, scales, so I could see them inverwoven everywhere on the neck etc. So I'd be able to stay in one position and change scales/arps. He's given me all the tools for this, I just haven't been able to work enough to put it all together.

I mostly still use the seven positions of the major scale (the modes, basically) that I learned as a teenager, but my picture of the neck is sketchy.

I'm just starting to learn the importance of arps in soling, knowing where chords tones are etc.

So if anyone is familiar with these two courses, which do you think would be better for my application?

Here is information on the classes:

http://www.berkleemusic.com/school/c...program=guitar

http://www.berkleemusic.com/school/c...program=guitar

thanks!

I looked at both and they're both probably really great, but it seems to me from reading the syllabus' that they are interdependent and synergistic - as melody and harmony are. Also, in reading your post you didn't mention anything about any harmonic (chords) work you've done or are doing(?) I say if you can only take one, take the "chords 101" course.

thanks so much Klasaine. Asking this question may in itself answer your question, but what do you mean by harmonic (chord) work?

quote:

Originally posted by Soundhound:
thanks so much Klasaine. Asking this question may in itself answer your question, but what do you mean by harmonic (chord) work?

Lol! It does. You need to learn about chords and chord progressions - "Harmony".

I think you said in the initial post that you live in L.A. - as in los angeles and not Louisiana (both sportsman's paradise, but in two different ways)? PM me if you want a more detailed assessment?

Thanks Ken! L.A. as a sportsmans paradise is a hilarious, if unsettling concept. I am in Los Angeles, yup. Sent you a PM. At least I think I did, I've never sent one on this forum before. Did you get it?
thanks...

Got it.
I'm a native Angelino, believe me L.A. is very much a sportsmans paradise on so many levels!

Hee!

Sent you another PM, and tried an email as well.

who is teaching the online courses? that's what would clinch it one way or another for me..

Bruce Saunders is teaching the Chords 101 (though the course itself I think was created by Rick Peckham). Larry Baione (sp?) is teaching the scales 101