Music Lessons and Advice From My Father

I got to watch him practice and play out at a very young age. I also got to listen to him practice songs at home on his JVC stereo system with curly-wired headphones on. I learned from hearing him talk about his band experiences with all the ups and downs. He knew a lot about many different things, but for some reason, it was his music side that got me into loving music. What follows is some advice I followed from him.

Learn to Read Music

My dad played by ear which means, he could listen to music and work it out by listening to how the music is played. I wanted to do the same but he insisted I learn to read music since I could always play by ear.

So I joined the sixth-grade band and played the alto saxophone. It was from here that I learned to read the notes in the treble clef. This is the top part that a pianist plays. A piano player also learns to read in the bass clef as well. It is connected together with treble and bass clef, called the grand staff. So by learning the notes of the treble clef, I was able to apply those notes to the guitar.

All I had to do was learn where these notes were on the guitar. I learned them by taking private lessons and learning to read my first three notes E, F, and G starting on string one.

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Learn to Play Guitar First

At first, I wanted to learn the bass guitar to be in a band with a friend. My father said to learn the guitar first and then you can always go to the bass guitar later. This advice came from some of his bandmates.

Playing the Blues

Playing and learning about the blues can really show you how to have feeling in your playing. Whether it is playing rhythm or soloing, learning about the blues can be a valuable asset.

It is a progression that in its simplest form consists of 3 chords. For example, in the key of A, the 3 chords would be A, D, and E. These chords come from the 1 chord, 4 chord, and 5 chord in the key of A. It starts with 4 bars of the 1 chord. Then the four chord for 2 bars. Back to the one chord for 2 bars.

Lastly, the last four measures called the turnaround consist of the five chord for 1 bar, the four chord for one bar, finishing with the one chord again for the last two bars. Sometimes the last 2 bars are one bar of the one chord with the last bar being the five chord to add a little more push to start the whole thing all over. Here is a link to “Playing the Blues in A.”

Add a Little Lead

Once you learn the chords and the progression add a little lead guitar to it with the pentatonic scale. It is a minor scale that a lot of musicians use to start learning how to solo over the blues progression.

A minor pentatonic scale is the one to use over these changes. It is a five-note scale, unlike a 7 note scale compared to the major scale. It has the root notes A, D, and E notes in it. So when you are on those chords, these notes will provide a solid tie to them. The other notes are C and G. Start to finish is in this order, A, C, D, E, and G.

Make it Sound Bluesier

You can then turn this scale into the blues scale by adding an Eb. The order would then be A, C, D, Eb, E, and G. This added note makes it a 6-note scale and makes it sound more bluesy. It is also easy to add to this scale. He loved the blues.

Barre Chords

Probably the first time I saw a barre chord was when my dad used it to play from an open E chord to F and the G chords. He played the E chord with fingers 2, 3, and 4 instead of the first 3 fingers.

E chord

This makes it easier to add the first finger when you move your fingers up one fret and add the first finger for the F barre chord.

F Barre Chord

First learning the guitar, I was just trying to learn my open cowboy chords. Later on, when I started learning more about the guitar and barre chords I realized how important barre chords were to learn. It opened the doors to playing songs that I was listening to and wanted to play. It’s just not the same as the open chords that you first learn.

Spanish Sounding Chord Theme

One little chord progression that he showed me was one that sounded like playing Spanish music. It involves keeping your open E chord, but moving it up one fret and up from there 2 more frets. Do this all while keeping the open E strings ringing. This has a Harmonic minor Phrygian sound. The following shows an open E major chord moving it up one and two frets higher.

E chord
F.E Chord
G.E Chord

In Closing

I had a good relationship with my father and over the years I learned a lot from him. He had a wealth of learning and knowledge about many different things. I enjoyed the stories he had to tell me and everyone else over the years. I will remember them and cherish the memories we had. Love ya Dad (1949-2023).