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Most guitarists travel a different route through
music theory than say, piano or violin students. This is because
so much guitar music is evolved from blues and country styles
that are based on the pentatonic scales.
For this reason many guitarists have little
or no use for the major scale until they venture into Jazz.
But here is my second 'Golden Rule' about teaching
guitar music theory:
You cannot teach your student theory without first laying
in a very thorough knowledge of the Major Scale.
So having first ensured that they have learnt
their notes, the next step is to see to it that they understand
the terms Tone and Semitone (Whole Tone/Half Tone).
You can then get them to learn and apply the
Major scale formula:
Tone, Tone, SemiTone, Tone, Tone, Tone, SemiTone,
Take lots of time over this; get them to work
out major scales on paper by applying the formula straight
to the chromatic scale. Then get them to find major scales
up and down single strings, so they associate the formula
with the layout of frets on the guitar. Next, get them to
figure out fingering patterns across the strings - there are
several of these that make sense in one context or another.
For now, you just want your student to apply
the information hands-on so that the theory beds in. In the
normal course of events I wouldn't dream of spending less
than a whole lesson devoted to the subject of the major scale
and I would follow up the next lesson to see how much of it
had sunk in.
The point once again is that it is completely
futile proceeding further with theory until the major scale
is thoroughly understood as almost everything else we look
at is going to be defined against it.
If, at this stage you are wondering whether you missed this vital point in your own musical development then now may be a good time to hop over to this section of the site.
Be sure to return here later though for more advice on how to teach music theory !
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