Improving-vertical verses horizontal growth
Did you ever notice it’s possible to learn more songs, chords, and riffs, without actually becoming a better guitarist? There are two directions for improvement. Horizontal improvement is when you teach yourself or pick up little tips but it’s building on stuff you already know, so it should come easily.
Vertical growth, is something that requires work. When you’re learning an exercise and it takes time, and effort to understand it.This is vertical growth. As a beginner guitarist unless you already understand theory, most of your growth will be vertical. Challenging yourself is a good habit at any level.
You must do a lot of work before you can play and have fun! Try to be aware of both types of learning and no matter what level you are at, you should be doing both!
It’s very common to reach a certain level, lets say competent rhythm player, where you might keep learning new songs, maybe some new chords but don’t push yourself to learn new techniques. Straight horizontal growth is an easy trap to fall into, especially when you’ve been playing for years.
An important part of being a Musician (as apposed to a Guitar player) is problem solving. Simple mathematical equations. It must become automatic, like a 6th sense. Until you see ( and hear ) the relationship between the notes, you are just imitating a song or a riff. A musical note is just a name, A,B or C, ect. Until you give a note, a number to quantify it,( eg. key of A, A is #1, D is 4, E is 5) it’s hard to visualize the relationship.
The good news is once you figure out what the Root (tonic), Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh is in one key ( eg. key of A, the Root is A, Fourth is D, Fifth is E, Seventh is G ), the other keys will all be easier to figure out. If you plan on playing with other people or writing songs, you’ll want to memorize the fingerboard. Start by learning the names of all the notes on the two low strings, E and A, right up to the twelfth fret.
With the exception of the space between the 3rd (G)string and the second (B) string, all the strings are spaced a perfect Fourth, apart. That means if I play the E string open, the string directly above it (A) open, is a Fourth. Here’s the easiest way I’ve found to visualize this.
Open Fret–#1– -2– -3 —4- -5– 6– 7– 8 — 9 —10 –11
A (5th str.) -A# –B –C– C# -D -D#- E –F –F#– G –G#
E(6th str.)– F— F# -G– G#- A -A# -B –C –C#– D –D#
When you’ve got this memorized, figuring out 4rths and 5ths is simple.
